Donald Trump has filed all kinds of misguided lawsuits in recent years, but the president’s $20 billion civil suit against Paramount, because he didn’t like the way “60 Minutes” edited its interview with Kamala Harris, was especially silly. Common sense suggested the company’s lawyers would’ve shrugged with indifference, waiting for Trump’s conspiratorial nonsense to get thrown out of court.
But that’s not what happened. Instead, Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle the baseless case, while acknowledging no wrongdoing, with the money to be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library.
Naturally, many observers wondered why in the world the company would agree to do this, given that the president’s civil suit was impossible to take seriously. It wasn’t long before many questioned whether the settlement was related to Paramount wanting the Trump administration to approve an unrelated merger deal.
Indeed, several Democratic members of Congress characterized the settlement as a “bribe” — a word CBS’ Stephen Colbert used on the air, just days before the network announced the popular “Late Show” host’s cancellation. (In a statement last week, Paramount and CBS executives said the cancellation “is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”)
That was last week. This week, NBC News reported:
Trump administration regulators have approved Skydance Media’s $8 billion bid to acquire CBS News parent company Paramount, paving the way for a tectonic shift in ownership of one of America’s three major networks. The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that it had approved the acquisition, with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr adding in a news release that the move would bring change to the company’s news coverage. Paramount owns CBS, which includes CBS News.
In advance of the deal, there were a great many developments of note. Not only did Paramount agree to pay $16 million to Trump’s future library, but Skydance also made a number of concessions to the FCC, including agreeing not to prioritize diversity in employment practices — a major priority for the Trump administration.
Trump’s far-right FCC chair spiked the football soon after.
“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” Carr said. “That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network. In particular, Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum.”
“Today’s decision also marks another step forward in the FCC’s efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” he added. As for Commissioner Anna Gomez, the only Democrat in the FCC’s leadership, she said after the merger’s approval, “After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted.” She added, “In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom,” she added. “Once again, this agency is undermining legitimate efforts to combat discrimination and expand opportunity by overstepping its authority and intervening in employment matters reserved for other government entities with proper jurisdiction on these issues. “Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law.” As for the timing of the developments, I more or less assumed that the relevant parties would prioritize more of a buffer, if only to keep up appearances. But that’s not what happened: As July began, Paramount told Trump’s lawyers it’d pay $16 million to settle a baseless presidential lawsuit, and as July neared its end, the Trump appointees on the FCC approved Paramount’s $8 billion deal.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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