Top Democrat Vows to Bring Federal Charges Against CBS Parent Company Paramount: They ‘Just Paid Trump a Bribe’
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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, pulled no punches on Wednesday in his reaction to Paramount’s middle-of-the-night announcement that it was paying President Donald Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit against 60 Minutes.
Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News’s long-running news magazine program was widely seen as frivolous and put pressure on Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance Media, which was being held up by Trump’s FCC launch of probes into CBS broadcasting stations.
Wyden connected the settlement to the merger deal, worth over $8 billion, and threatened federal charges over what he believes amounts to a bribe. “Paramount just paid Trump a bribe for merger approval. When Democrats retake power, I’ll be first in line calling for federal charges. In the meantime, state prosecutors should make the corporate execs who sold out our democracy answer in court, today,” Wyden declared.
Trump quickly took a victory lap with his lawyer releasing a statement that said, “With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit. CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle. President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”
Trump initially sued 60 Minutes for $10 billion, before later upping the ante to $20 billion. The suit accused the program of deceptively editing its interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election, which he claimed amounted to election interference. 60 Minutes later released the full, unedited video and transcript from the interview.
The lawsuit focused on an answer Harris gave about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that aired in a preview clip for the interview on CBS’s Face the Nation. The preview clip included a 21-second answer from Harris to the question, while 60 Minutes chose to later air only a different, 7 seconds from her response. 60 Minutes, along with most all news outlets, have long edited lengthy interviews for brevity and clarity in order to fit the running time of segments.
Two top CBS News executives left their roles in recent months, warning that corporate pressure to not anger the Trump administration was impacting journalistic integrity. Wendy McMahon, CBS News’ CEO, and Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes, both stunned media insiders by suddenly leaving their high-profile roles.
