{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-sanders-wyden-question-skydances-refusal-to-address-trump-secret-side-deal", "Warren, Sanders, Wyden Question Skydance\u2019s Refusal to Address Trump \u201cSecret Side Deal\u201d", "2025-10-10", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren, Sanders, Wyden Question Skydance\u2019s Refusal to Address Trump \u201cSecret Side Deal\u201d\n\n\u201cYour refusal to answer questions, including your refusal to address reports of a side deal, leaves key unanswered questions\u2026[including] whether the existence of such a side deal may run afoul of federal bribery laws.\u201d\n\nText of Letter to Paramount Skydance (PDF) | July Response from Skydance (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote to Paramount Skydance, continuing their investigation into Skydance\u2019s potential side deal with President Trump prior to securing approval of Skydance\u2019s merger with Paramount. In a July response to an earlier letter from the senators, Skydance refused to answer questions about the existence of such a deal, but revealed that \u201cSkydance executives and its representatives have had routine and customary interactions with government officials, including with the Administration, Congress, and federal regulators.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe public deserves to know which White House officials met with Skydance executives, and if Skydance cut a side deal with the President in order to grease the skids for its merger approval,\u201d said the senators.\n\nIn July, Paramount agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit against its subsidiary, CBS, regarding editing of a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview with presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. Under the settlement agreement, Paramount agreed to pay President Trump\u2019s legal fees, with the rest of the settlement going toward his Presidential Library fund. At the time of the lawsuit, Paramount was awaiting approval from President Trump\u2019s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its merger with Skydance. Weeks after Paramount settled the lawsuit, the FCC approved Paramount\u2019s merger with Skydance.\n\nIn July, the senators wrote to Paramount and Skydance asking about a reported \u201csecret side deal\u201d with President Trump and whether the deal was connected to approval of the merger. While Paramount denied the deal was part of their settlement, Skydance\u2019s response provided no clarity on Skydance\u2019s own role in the \u201csecret side deal.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour refusal to answer questions, including your refusal to address reports of a side deal, leaves key unanswered questions\u2026[including] whether the existence of such a side deal may run afoul of federal bribery laws,\u201d said the senators.\n\nThese answers are all the more critical given President Trump\u2019s recent comments regarding media companies. Last month, Trump stated: \u201cI can\u2019t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back\u2026 Last time I went after [ABC], they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.\u201d\n\nIn order to inform them in their legislative responsibilities regarding corruption, government ethics, and the operations of the FCC and other federal agencies, the senators asked the newly merged company, Paramount Skydance, to reply by October 23, 2025, addressing:\n\nWhether there is a formal or unwritten deal for the company or any of its affiliates to provide money, advertising, or promotional activities to President Trump, his family, his Presidential Library, or other administration officials; and\n\nWhether Skydance executives met with Trump administration officials, including President Trump, his Chief of Staff, the FCC Chair, or anyone else, and the nature of those discussions.\n\nSenator Warren continues to fight against corporate media consolidation and the Trump administration\u2019s disturbing efforts to silence free speech:\n\nOn September 30, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) in hosting a spotlight forum about President Trump and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr's abuse of government authority to restrict First Amendment-protected speech and independent, fact-based news reporting.\n\nOn September 23, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), pressed broadcasters Nexstar and Sinclair for answers as to why Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air.\n\nOn September 23, 2025, Senator Warren released a statement after Nexstar Media Group\u2019s and Sinclair\u2019s decisions to continue to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC affiliate stations.\n\nOn August 1, 2025, Senator Warren released a statement following Paramount\u2019s and Skydance\u2019s responses to her recent letters.\n\nOn July 24, 2025, Senator Warren responded to the Trump administration\u2019s approval of the Paramount-Skydance megamerger, saying \u201cbribery is illegal no matter who is president.\u201d\n\nOn July 23, 2025, Senator Warren published an op-ed in Variety: \u201cElizabeth Warren on Colbert\u2019s \u2018Late Show\u2019 Cancellation: Is the Paramount Trump Payoff a Bribe?\u201d\n\nOn July 21, 2025, Senators Warren, Sanders (I-Vt.), and Wyden (D-Ore.) pressed David Ellison, CEO of Skydance, about reports of a secret deal between Skydance and President Trump \u2014 and how it may be related to Paramount\u2019s recent multi-million-dollar settlement agreement with Trump.\n\nOn July 17, 2025, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and lawmakers in Congress, unveiled the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act to close loopholes that allow presidential libraries to be used as tools for corruption and bribery.\n\nOn July 2, 2025, Senator Warren called for an investigation into Paramount\u2019s settlement with Trump.\n\nOn February 19, 2025, Senator Warren wrote to Omeed Assefi, acting DOJ assistant attorney general, asking the agency to look into, and potentially block, a Jan. 6 deal that would have Disney merge its Hulu+ Live TV business with Fubo.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-sanders-wyden-question-skydances-refusal-to-address-trump-secret-side-deal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3741119764745235, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}