Sep. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) push again Paramount General manager David Ellison about whether there was any “side deal” with Donald Trump pending FCC approval Skydanceacquisition of a legacy media company.
Prior to FCC approval, Paramount Global settled Trump's lawsuit against CBS and 60 minutes about how an interview with Kamala Harris was edited. The settlement amounted to $16 million to fund Trump's presidential library and attorneys' fees and expenses.
But senators have previously interrogated Ellison regarding Trump's claims that an additional amount of $16 million or more had been agreed upon to fund public service announcements and advertising obligations. Before the deal, Paramount Global denied it had entered into such a side deal, and Skydance general counsel Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon wrote senators last summer that the company is “in full compliance with all applicable laws, including our nation's anti-bribery laws.”
In their latest letter, sent Thursday, Warren and other senators said they found the answers incomplete. They wrote: “In the request we sent you, we warned that it is illegal under federal bribery laws to give anything of value to federal officials to influence an official act, and the existence of a side deal with the President to facilitate merger approvals could violate anti-bribery laws.
“In your July 31 response, you declined to answer any questions about the existence of an additional deal with President Trump, saying only that “Skydance executives and its representatives had routine and customary interactions with government officials, including the Administration, Congress and federal regulators.”
Warren and other senators want Ellison to answer a series of questions by Oct. 23, including contacts with specific administration officials, and whether there is “any arrangement—either a formal written agreement or an 'unwritten agreement'—under which you, Skydance or any entity associated with Skydance or the new Paramount will provide compensation, advertising or promotional activities that in any way assist President Trump, his family, his Presidential Library, or another Administration.” officials.”
Last summer, in the midst of publicity for the Skydance-Paramount deal and its expected regulatory approval, Warren and other Democrats in Congress introduced the Presidential Library Corrupt Practices Act, which would require presidents to wait until after they leave office before raising funds or accepting donations.
A Paramount representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
