California Sen. Adam Schiff (D) is requesting info from the Federal Communications Fee (FCC) about its current approval of a mega merger between leisure giants Paramount and Skydance, a deal that has been overshadowed by President Trump’s rocky relationship with CBS Information.
In a letter to FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Schiff outlined a sequence of issues, together with these associated to the $16 million settlement paid by Paramount to Trump weeks earlier than the merger’s approval and subsequent conferences the FCC had following the settlement.
“The sequence of actions and statements main as much as and following the FCC’s merger approval … raises important questions and alarm that the FCC — an impartial regulatory company — has change into a automobile for President Trump to actual private retribution and undermine the liberty of the press,” the Democrat wrote.
The FCC permitted the Paramount/Skydance merger simply days after the settlement fee, which Paramount made to get the president to conform to drop a lawsuit he had filed over a “60 Minutes” interview that aired final fall with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
As a part of its bid to the FCC, leaders at “New Paramount,” promised to retool CBS’s editorial technique to characterize a extra “diverse” set of viewpoints and put off company variety insurance policies.
Democrats and media watchdogs have slammed the FCC’s approval of the $7 billion deal, arguing the huge media conglomerate’s fee to Trump may violate federal bribery legislation.
“The FCC’s recent actions are especially troubling considering President Trump’s history of disparaging the press and undermining the protections afforded to them by the Constitution,” Schiff wrote in his letter to Carr. “He has repeatedly accused news agencies of bias or unfair reporting when the coverage is unfavorable to him.”
