‘Bribery in plain sight’: Paramount to pay Trump $24 million as it seeks merger approval
A legal settlement that will see Paramount pay Donald Trump US$16 million (A$24.3m) over a 60 Minutes interview has led to calls for a bribery investigation.
Donald Trump brought a US$10 billion suit against CBS News and parent company Paramount Global in October, alleging a Kamala Harris interview that aired on 60 Minutes ahead of the election was edited, at the direction of Harris’ campaign team, to “tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party”.
Paramount Global is the owner of Network 10.
Although CBS originally claimed the suit was “completely without merit”, it has agreed to make the payout after first entering meditation talks in April.
“The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,” Paramount said in a statement.
Paramount’s settlement does not include an apology to Trump
The settlement comes as Paramount’s parent company National Amusements seeks approval from the Trump administration and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve its proposed US$8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.
The timing of the settlement has caused Democrat senator Elizabeth Warren to call for a bribery 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,” she said.
“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.”
The FCC’s commissioner Anna Gomez called Paramount’s settlement “desperate”, saying it “casts a long shadow over the integrity of the transaction pending before the FCC”.
“Had Paramount chosen to fight this in court, they would have prevailed on the facts and the law,” Gomez said.
Senator Bernie Sanders said it was “a dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press – an essential part of our democracy”. He said: “Paramount’s decision will only embolden Trump to continue attacking, suing and intimidating the media which he has labelled ‘the enemy of the people’.”
Sanders co-signed a letter with Warren and senator Ron Wyden in May, warning Paramount’s chair, Shari Redstone, that any settlement with Trump may constitute bribery.
“Paramount appears to be trying to settle a lawsuit that it has assessed as ‘completely without merit’,” the letter reads.
“Under the federal bribery statute, it is illegal to corruptly give anything of value to public officials to influence an official act.
“If Paramount officials make these concessions in a quid pro quo arrangement to influence President Trump or other Administration officials, they may be breaking the law.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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