Democratic Senators Warn Shari Redstone Settling Trump’s ’60 Minutes’ Lawsuit Could Be Criminal Bribery

Democratic senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden warned Shari Redstone on Tuesday that settling Donald Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit in order to win approval for Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance Media could violate federal anti-bribery laws.

In a letter sent to Redstone dated May 19 and first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the trio said they were concerned “Paramount appears to be trying to settle a lawsuit that it has assessed as ‘completely without merit,’ and moderating the content of its programs in order to obtain approval of this merger.”

“Under the federal bribery statute, it is illegal to corruptly give anything of value to public officials to influence an official act,” the letter continued. “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.”

Read the full letter here.

The senators’ letter noted that Paramount Global previously dismissed the lawsuit as “completely without merit” and vowed to “vigorously defend” itself.

Then they asked Redstone address several related questions, among them if she still believes the case is without merit, if she or other company leaders have discussed settling in order to smooth things for the merger, of the company has forced changes on CBS News programming with that in mind, and if further such changes are coming.

The senators also wanted to know Paramount has policies for compliance with federal laws against public corruption and if it has planned any further concessions to Trump.

The senators cited as evidence for their concerns the increasing tumult at CBS news, which has effectively been in conflict with its parent company since Trump was elected for a second term. This included the resignation of CBS News president Wendy McMahon, who quit on Monday after 2 years on the job.

“It’s become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward,” McMahon told employees, capping a tenure that saw increasing interference and public criticism from Redstone.

She followed former “60 Minutes’ executive producer Bill Owens, who quit in April, saying at the time that “my ’60 Minutes’ priorities have always been clear. Maybe not smart, but clear. Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it.”

Trump is suing CBS News and Paramount Global for $20 billion over the “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris last year, a lawsuit experts have called a “sham”. Trump has baselessly accused the show of deceptively editing that interview. Since taking office, Trump’s FCC has also opened an investigation.

The news of the letter comes one day after Sanders, separately, urged Redstone to “not capitulate to Trump’s attack on a free press.” Sanders and Warren were also signatories to a letter sent on May 7 urging Redstone to fight the lawsuit.

The company has not announced a settlement, but on Monday, CNN’s Jake Tapper shared a rumor, per unnamed sources, that Paramount Global could end up paying Trump as $50 million to settle the lawsuit.

The letter demanded answers to a series of questions by June 2, such as:

• Please describe any changes to Paramount’s mediation of 60 Minutes content made to facilitate approval of Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance.
• What other actions is Paramount taking to facilitate approval of its pending merger with kydance?
• Specifically, have Paramount officials discussed settling the lawsuit or making other concessions with President Trump or Trump Administration officials in the context of the merger approval?

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