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bribery
Capitalizing on Trump Corruption, Scammers Trick Davos Elites With Phony Pay-for-Access Scheme
"We encourage billionaires to be vigilant and only utilize the White House’s official pay-for-access operation," quipped the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Jan 20, 2026
Scammers have succeeded in tricking global elites at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland into paying top dollar for false promises of access to US President Donald Trump, whose open corruption has astonished experts and watchdog organizations.
USA House, the main event venue for the US in Davos, posted a warning on Tuesday about scammers selling supposed "VIP access" to the site, which is scheduled to feature is scheduled to feature a speech by the president, as well as panels with CEOs and Trump administration officials.
"It has been brought to our attention that again this year external parties are selling 'VIP access to USA House' and other Stromback Global venues in Davos," the notice read. "USA House and Stromback Global do not work with any external resellers and we will not give access to people who purchased such packages."
The notice concluded by expressing "sympathies to those who fell victim to these scams."
The social media team of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom was quick to pounce on news of the scam, and wrote up their own mocking warning for Davos elites trying to get one-on-one time with the president.
"ALERT: Scammers are selling access to Trump at Davos," they wrote. "We encourage billionaires to be vigilant and only utilize the White House’s official pay-for-access operation."
Concerns about pay-for-access schemes have been prevalent throughout Trump's second term.
Shortly before returning to the White House last year, Trump launched his own official cryptocurrency, which raised immediate alarms about investors using it as a mechanism to bribe him.
In May, Trump hosted an exclusive dinner at one of his golf clubs in Virginia for the largest investors in his cryptocurrency, who spent a combined $148 million on Trump meme coins, according to CNBC.
Trump also drew allegations of corruption in October when he pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance who pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges in 2023, after he had helped boost the value of Trump's meme coin months earlier.
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Trump FCC's Approval of Paramount-Skydance Merger 'Reeks of the Worst Form of Corruption'
"The stench of this transaction will linger over the commission for years," said a pair of Democratic senators.
Jul 25, 2025
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.
BREAKING NEWS: Trump's government just approved Paramount's merger with Skydance.
Sure looks like they paid Donald Trump $36 MILLION for this merger.
Bribery is illegal no matter who is president. pic.twitter.com/DE7LPRjT6X
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 24, 2025
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."
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Writers Union Calls for Bribery Probe of Paramount After Colbert Cancellation
The Writers Guild of America voiced concern that Paramount is "sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump administration as the company looks for merger approval."
Jul 20, 2025
The Writers Guild of America is calling on New York's attorney general to launch a bribery investigation into Paramount Global following the cancellation of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert."
WGA, some of whose members worked on the CBS show, said in a statement that while "cancellations are part of the business," a "corporation terminating a show in bad faith due to explicit or implicit political pressure is dangerous and unacceptable in a democratic society."
"Paramount's decision comes against a backdrop of relentless attacks on a free press by President Trump, through lawsuits against CBS and ABC, threatened litigation of media organizations with critical coverage, and the unconscionable defunding of PBS and NPR," the union said.
WGA noted that the show's cancellation—which CBS insisted was a "purely financial" decision—came after Colbert criticized Paramount's $16 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump.
In a July 15 segment, aired 48 hours prior to his show's cancellation, Colbert called the settlement with Trump a "big, fat bribe" aimed at greasing federal approval of Paramount's pending merger with the entertainment company Skydance. Paramount owns CBS, and Paramount's controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, has reportedly been monitoring the network's coverage of the president.
The day of the Colbert segment, the CEO of Skydance met with Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr to discuss the pending merger.
In its statement, WGA urged New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate "potential wrongdoing" at Paramount, which is headquartered in New York City.
"Given Paramount's recent capitulation to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has significant concerns that 'The Late Show' cancellation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump administration as the company looks for merger approval," the union said. "We call on our elected leaders to hold those responsible to account, to demand answers about why this beloved program was canceled, and to assure the public that Colbert and his writers were not censored due to their views or the whims of the president."
Ahead of the official settlement announcement, California's Senate launched an investigation into whether Paramount "violated state laws against bribery and unfair competition" by offering Trump $15 million to end the legal fight, Semafor reported.
After news of the settlement deal broke earlier this month, Democratic U.S. senators called for a federal investigation.
"With Paramount folding to Donald Trump at the same time the company needs his administration's approval for its billion-dollar merger, this could be bribery in plain sight," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement. "Paramount has refused to provide answers to a congressional inquiry, so I'm calling for a full investigation into whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken."
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