House Democrats launch investigation into Paramount merger and 'bribe' to Trump [View all]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 21 August 2025 16:22 BST


The ranking members of the House Judiciary and Energy and Commerce committees are launching an investigation into Skydance’s $8 billion merger with Paramount and whether the $16 million settlement with Donald Trump constituted a “bribe,” the committees announced Thursday. The Hill first reported on the launch of the congressional probe and a letter sent to Paramount leadership, which The Independent has also reviewed.

In the letter sent to new Paramount CEO David Ellison on Wednesday night, E&C ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. and Rep. Jamie Raskin, Judiciary’s top Democrat, called on Paramount leadership to provide documents and correspondence related to the deal and its approval process with the Trump administration.

The merger, which was approved late last month by the FCC and officially closed on August 7, came after a politically strained and fraught process that included the previous Paramount leadership paying Trump to settle a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview that CBS News’ own lawyers said was “without merit.”

Additionally, after the settlement was announced, the president claimed that he had reached a “side deal” with Ellison to air up to $20 million worth of pro-Trump advertisements and programming on CBS once Skydance took over the company. While the previous Paramount leadership denied any knowledge of any secret agreement, Ellison has remained mum about the matter.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/paramount-merger-democrats-bribe-trump-b2811807.html