Elizabeth Warren calls for bribery investigation into Paramount-Trump settlement

In a statement, the Massachusetts senator suggested that Paramount's capitulation could be "bribery in plain sight" to help secure FCC approval for its Skydance merger.

Elizabeth Warren calls for bribery investigation into Paramount-Trump settlement
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Overnight, Paramount came to an agreement with Donald Trump in the $20 billion suit he launched last October over a 60 Minutes interview he claims was deceptively edited. Now, Elizabeth Warren is calling for an investigation into “whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken” by the company’s $16 million payout to settle what she characterized as the president’s “meritless” dispute, Variety reports.

“With Paramount folding to Donald Trump at the same time the company needs his administration’s approval for its billion-dollar merger, this could be bribery in plain sight,” the Massachusetts senator said in a statement. “Paramount has refused to provide answers to a congressional inquiry, so I’m calling for a full investigation into whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken.”

Warren previously raised these concerns in May in a letter she wrote with Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden to Shari Redstone, Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder. In the letter, the senators suggested that Paramount may be “engaging in improper conduct involving the Trump Administration in exchange for approval of its megamerger with Skydance Media.” Wyden also chimed in on social media, writing, “Paramount just paid Trump a bribe for merger approval. When Democrats retake power, I’ll be first in line calling for federal charges. In the meantime, state prosecutors should make the corporate execs who sold out our democracy answer in court, today.” Paramount’s own employees have also linked capitulation with Trump to the pending merger. “Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley said on-air shortly after executive producer Bill Owens resigned for this exact reason. 

Paramount Global, on the other hand, has claimed that Trump’s $20 billion suit is “completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process,” per Variety. The White House also denied this assertion in a statement responding to the senators’ letter in May. “Democrats on Capitol Hill are growing increasingly desperate and unhinged by the day, and this latest act of faux outrage reveals the depth of their despair,” a spokesperson said. “Anyone who seriously believes the President could be bribed by anyone, especially a liberal and notoriously unreliable institution like Paramount, lacks the intelligence to hold public office.”

The money from Paramount’s settlement will go directly to Trump’s presidential library, a decision Warren also took issue with. “This settlement exposes a glaring need for rules to restrict donations to sitting presidents’ libraries,” she said. “I will soon introduce new legislation to rein in corruption through presidential library donations. The Trump administration’s level of sheer corruption is appalling and Paramount should be ashamed of putting its profits over independent journalism.”

 
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