Democrats Ramp Up Pressure on Skydance Over Its Deal With Trump To Buy Paramount and CBS, Accuse Company of ‘Stonewalling’

House Democrats are keeping up the pressure on the Ellison family’s Skydance studio with questions about whether executives paid an “illegal bribe” to secure the Trump Administration’s approval of its purchase of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS.Two liberal House Democrats, Jamie Raskin and Frank Pallone Jr., sent a letter to the chief executive officer of Skydance, David Ellison, in August, asking for a copy of Paramount’s $16 million settlement to end President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS. The lawmakers also sought information about any commitments to air “advertising, public service announcements, or other programming” in light of Mr. Trump’s assertion that Skydance promised to air $20 million worth of conservative public service announcements. Additionally, the letter sought any communication between Paramount or Skydance and the Trump Administration. Skydance executives told the Democrats that it had “routine and customary interactions” with government officials and that it had complied with anti-bribery laws.However, in a letter on Wednesday, Messrs. Raskin and Pallone said the response does not “appear to reflect a good-faith effort to cooperate with our Committees’ investigation.” The lawmakers said Skydance’s letter “not only failed to address any of our requests, it raised additional questions and concerns.”They noted that Skydance did not provide a copy of the settlement agreement, nor did it provide any “related communications.” Skydance also did not provide information about the alleged side deal to air conservative public service announcements or communications between Paramount or Skydance and the Trump Administration. The lawmakers also took issue with Skydance’s assertion that it engaged in “routine and customary interactions” with government officials.“Your assertion that it is ‘routine and customary’ for the President of the United States to endorse a multi-billion merger that had been pending for more than eight months just days after the CEO of Skydance sat next to the President at an Ultimate Fighting Championships event is profoundly troubling,” the letter said. The Democrats also said that Skydance’s response “triggered some additional questions” because it said that Skydance has complied with anti-bribery laws, but it does not “make the same representation regarding Paramount.”“These omissions are noticeable and disturbing,” the letter states. The lawmakers said Skydance’s first response raised questions about whether the company “intends to cooperate with our investigation,” and asked for the documents it originally requested by November 26. A source “familiar with the matter” told the Hill that “nothing is off the table” when asked if Democrats would try to call Mr. Ellison to testify about the merger. With Democrats in the minority in Congress, there is little they can do aside from sending letters and asking Mr. Ellison to testify. However, that could change if Democrats regain control of the House or Senate after the midterm elections. Paramount and Skydance executives have faced scrutiny over their merger as Democrats, left-wing journalists, and the canceled CBS late-night host, Stephen Colbert, cast Paramount’s decision to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against CBS as a “bribe.” Paramount and the Federal Communications Commission, which needed to approve the deal, have stated that Mr. Trump’s lawsuit and the Skydance deal were unrelated. But critics have raised doubts about that explanation, noting that the FCC approved the merger weeks after Paramount’s settlement and after CBS announced it was canceling Mr. Colbert’s anti-Trump comedy program, “The Late Show.” Skydance executives have maintained that they complied with anti-bribery laws and did not have input on Paramount’s settlement negotiations with Mr. Trump or on CBS’s decision to cancel Mr. Colbert’s show. The renewed pressure on Skydance comes as the company is eyeing an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, which has raised alarms among Democrats.David Ellison is the son of the world’s richest man and a Trump supporter, Larry Ellison, who bankrolled the acquisition of Paramount.Senator Elizabeth Warren posted on X about a potential acquisition of WBD by Skydance, “One of Trump’s billionaire buddies just bought Paramount. Now, he wants to buy Warner Bros. That means one giant company could control almost everything you watch on TV.”Meanwhile, a far-left media reporter, Oliver Darcy, reports that CNN staffers are fretting that Mr. Ellison may acquire WBD and try to implement reforms to ensure the reliably anti-Trump network produces fair journalism. Since taking over CBS News, Mr. Ellison has taken several steps to try to eliminate the network’s left-wing, anti-Israel slant, such as hiring the former president of the right-leaning Hudson Institute, Kenneth Weinstein, to serve as an ombudsman. Paramount also reportedly paid $150 million to acquire the anti-woke outlet, the Free Press, and make its founder, Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief of CBS News. Nevertheless, “60 Minutes” has persisted in so-called “resistance programming,” continuing to feature one segment after another about the harms caused by Mr. Trump. This past Sunday’s profiled farmers supposedly harmed by Mr. Trump’s tariffs, and researchers whose funding was suspended due to the Trump Administration’s conflict with elite universities over antisemitism.While there has not been the predicted barrage of litigation following the Skydance deal, Wednesday’s letter signals that Democrats are not planning on letting up the pressure on the Ellisons and may try to aggressively probe the Paramount acquisition if they regain the majority next year. As Democrats signal they hope to aggressively investigate Skydance, executives at the media company hired a former Biden White House lawyer, Kevin Barstow, to respond to Democrats’ questions. Skydance did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Democrats Ramp Up Pressure on Skydance Over Its Deal With Trump To Buy Paramount and CBS, Accuse Company of ‘Stonewalling’

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