Senator Elizabeth Warren is sounding the alarm after Paramount International agreed to pay $16 million to settle Donald Trump’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. Warren says the payout raises severe questions on company affect and the integrity of journalism.
“With Paramount folding to Donald Trump on the similar time the corporate wants his administration’s approval for its billion-dollar merger, this could possibly be bribery in plain sight,” Warren stated Wednesday. “Paramount has refused to supply solutions to a congressional inquiry, so I’m calling for a full investigation into whether or not or not any anti-bribery legal guidelines had been damaged.”
The 2024 lawsuit, which authorized students extensively dismissed as baseless, accused CBS and Paramount of distorting Harris’s interview in violation of a Texas client legislation. Paramount says the $16 million received’t go on to Trump, however will as an alternative fund his presidential library. Nonetheless, Warren isn’t happy.
“This settlement exposes a obtrusive want for guidelines to limit donations to sitting presidents’ libraries,” she stated. “I’ll quickly introduce new laws to rein in corruption by means of presidential library donations.”
Different lawmakers echoed Warren’s considerations. Senator Ron Wyden tweeted, “Paramount simply paid Trump a bribe for merger approval.” Senator Bernie Sanders referred to as the settlement “an especially harmful precedent” and “a darkish day for unbiased journalism.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez additionally criticized the payout, saying it casts “a protracted shadow” over the Skydance-Paramount merger at the moment underneath FCC overview.
Paramount maintains that the lawsuit and the merger are unrelated.
Uncover extra from Baller Alert
Subscribe to get the most recent posts despatched to your e-mail.
