Trump FCC's Approval of Paramount-Skydance Merger 'Reeks of the Worst Form of Corruption'

The Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave formal approval to the $8 billion merger of CBS owner Paramount and the media firm Skydance, which won over the agency's Trump-appointed chairman with pledges to review CBS' content and appoint an ombudsman to evaluate claims of bias.

The FCC's two Republicans, Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty, supported approval of the merger, a decision that comes weeks after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle President Donald Trump's lawsuit over the organization's handling of a pre-election "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris.

Anna Gomez, the FCC's lone Democratic-appointed commissioner, said Thursday that "after months of cowardly capitulation to this administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted."

"Despite this regrettable outcome, this administration is not done with its assault on the First Amendment," said Gomez, who opposed the merger. "In fact, it may only be beginning. The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage. It is a dark chapter in a long and growing record of abuse that threatens press freedom in this country."

"The partisan vote is a dark day for independent journalism and a stain on the storied history of the Federal Communications Commission."

Democratic lawmakers responded with similar disgust and alarm. In a joint statement, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said the merger approval "reeks of the worst form of corruption."

"While we're glad that the commission took a vote on the deal, as we have repeatedly called for, the partisan vote is a dark day for independent journalism and a stain on the storied history of the Federal Communications Commission," the senators added. "The stench of this transaction will linger over the commission for years."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said that "this merger must be investigated for any criminal behavior."

"It's an open question whether the Trump administration’s approval of this merger was the result of a bribe," said Warren.

Under the publicly available terms of the Paramount settlement, the company agreed to put $16 million toward Trump's future presidential library. But Trump has claimed that the deal is actually worth more than twice the publicly reported figure, asserting that Skydance agreed to spend $20 million on "advertising, PSAs, or similar programming."

Earlier this week, Warren and two other senators demanded answers from Skydance CEO David Ellison about the purported side deal, which the lawmakers described as a "potential secret Trump payoff."

Conor Gaffney and Janine Lopez, attorneys at the nonprofit group Protect Democracy, wrote Thursday that "no doubt the boards of Paramount and Skydance are hoping this saga ends today—now that they've appeased the FCC and cleared merger review."

"But as we've seen time and again, businesses that capitulate to the Trump administration find themselves captured rather than in the clear—with the president quick to change his mind and come back for more," they wrote. "The costs of capitulation are higher than they might initially seem, and the business calculation that Paramount and many others have made may be wrong. The price of protection only goes up, and the mob keeps coming around."