Two House Democrats who have been investigating the Skydance–Paramount merger are once again pressing CEO David Ellison to answer a series of questions about the transaction, including whether there was a “side deal” with Donald Trump as CBS settled the president’s lawsuit against the network.
The letter from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the top Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, contends that Skydance’s response so far has been “incomplete and inadequate.” They wrote that Skydance’s reply “does not appear to reflect a good-faith effort to cooperate with our Committees’ investigation.”
In August, the lawmakers sought a copy of the settlement agreement between Skydance and Paramount and Trump, communications with the administration and the FCC and internal communications and documents. The lawmakers wrote that the only response that they received was to their request for a “description of communications with the President or other representatives of the Administration
from April 12, 2025; July 7, 2025; or any other day during the pendency of the merger between
Skydance and Paramount.”
Raskin and Pallone wrote the Ellison, “Your response stated that Paramount engaged only in ‘routine and
customary interactions’ with government officials. Your assertion that it is ‘routine and
customary’ for the President of the United States to endorse a multi-billion merger that had been pending for more than eight months just days after the CEO of Skydance sat next to the President
at an Ultimate Fighting Championships event is profoundly troubling.”
The lawmakers also said that additional questions have been raised.
They wrote, “Your response asserts that ‘Skydance has fully complied with all applicable laws, including our nation’s anti-bribery laws.’ Your response does not, however, make the same representation regarding Paramount— it only states that there were ‘policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance.’ Your letter also does not state what these purported policies and procedures were, nor does your response assert that Paramount actually followed these policies and procedures or fully complied with all applicable laws, including anti-bribery laws. These omissions are noticeable and disturbing.”
A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.
Weeks before the FCC approved Skydance’s acquisition, the previous Paramount regime settled Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris. The settlement was for $16 million, but Trump later claimed that his administration also anticipated receiving “$20 Million Dollars more from the new Owners, in Advertising, PSAs, or similar Programming, for a total of over $36 Million Dollars.”
The old Paramount management denied there was any additional amount to the settlement; Skydance and Ellison have not commented on Trump’s claim.
But Democrats have tried to press the issue, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others suggesting that anti-bribery laws may have been violated. “Skydance has fully complied with all applicable laws, including our nation’s anti-bribery laws,” General Counsel Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon wrote in a letter to Warren and other senators in July.
