Top Democrat Vows to Bring Federal Charges Against CBS Parent Company Paramount: They 'Just Paid Trump a Bribe'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: MEDIAite

Jul 2nd, 2025, 11:28 am


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.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/top-democrat-vows-to-bring-federal-charges-against-cbs-parent-company-paramount-they-just-paid-trump-a-bribe/

[markodochartaigh]

1. We need so much more of this,

the Democratic party should go all in on holding these enabling companies accountable.

[Meadowoak]

2. Boycotting CBS.

[LymphocyteLover]

14. Absolutely! Fuck those corrupt shits.

[onenote]

3. Empty threat.

Wake me when it actually happens.

[Amaryllis]

10. Wyden is my senator and he is excellent. If he says he will do it, he will. He is a fighter.

[onenote]

12. He's an excellent Senator. But that doesn't give him power to bring federal criminal charges against anyone.

Last edited Wed Jul 2, 2025, 06:37 PM - Edit history (2)

If US Senators could bring federal criminal charges the Repub senators would have been doing it time and time again. They can't force the DOJ to act and this DOJ isn't bringing federal charges against Paramount.

Moreover, successfully bringing bribery or extortion charges against a party for settling a civil case is rare indeed.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. He knows this and added this part

In the meantime, state prosecutors should make the corporate execs who sold out our democracy answer in court, today,

which sounds like a "hint hint" to CA AG Rob Bonta to maybe go for something. I.e., the look of a "quid pro quo".

I just found this -

Jul 2, 2025 2:09pm PT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Says Paramount’s Trump Settlement ‘Seems Transactional,’ Tells Media Companies to ‘Do the Right Thing’ Amid Threats

by Michael Schneider


Gov. Gavin Newsom warned the U.S. media companies not to “sell out” to the Trump administration, the same day that Paramount Global controversially settled a lawsuit brought about by Trump regarding a “60 Minutes” report.

That $16 million settlement between Paramount’s CBS News and Trump is widely seen as a quid pro quo for the FCC to approve a long-awaited acquisition of the conglom by Skydance — something both companies have taken pains to say is not the case. But Newsom (D-Calif.) told Variety during a press conference Wednesday morning that “it seems, for some, almost transactional. Not just the settlement, but why the settlement needed to occur in order to pave way for other transactions. It just leads one to cynically state that. I’m not learning enough on the details to assert more than those that have suggested the curious nature of the timing.”

(snip)

[Inkey]

34. Seems Transactional perfectly describes

his modus operandi maneuver.
Swindle, con, & cheat to get ahead.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Stop talking about it and just do it.

[Gimpyknee]

8. We cut ties to the boob tube on November 9th 2016.

Smartest thing we ever did.

[MLWR]

13. In case you missed it,

republiSCUM control the DOJ and they won't prosecute anyone who bows down and kisses Krasnov's very ample, orange a$$.

[TomSlick]

31. That's why the Senator Wyden said

"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,”

This is a shot across CBS' bow.

[SunImp]

5. Ugh, all these companies just giving up & paying a madman

[Rebl2]

7. I first

read that as madam, not not madman 🙄🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[Skittles]

18. it's part of the fascism playbook

make them fear the consequences if they don't pay, or even worse: REWARD them later when they "pay up"

[DENVERPOPS]

32. It's Trump's favorite way to take payoffs

and launder money....along with his personal Super? pac and don't forget the fortune he made off his Inaguration.......

Russian oligarchs renting apartments in his condo buildings, year round, but never even going there..Same with his office building offices........
5+000 a plate dinners at Mar-a-gago, with outrageous room fees.......... All the merchandise he sells on his MAGA website...........
Shoes, watches, bibles, cell phones, hats, shirts, flags, banners, coins, crypto, etc etc etc
The list is endless........the emollients law went out the window early in his first term, and he has capitalized on it exponentially Since them.....

The epitome of the saying: "The best politicians money can buy"...........

[et tu]

6. well he will have time

to shop for a judge~

[PatSeg]

9. Shit!

That is so disappointing. Shame on CBS.

[mathematic]

11. Everybody with eyeballs can see that this is extortion, not bribery.

Ron Wyden, a Senator, can propose a law that limits the ability of the President to prohibit business combinations in order to force one of the merging companies to pay him. I'm positive that such a law will have enough votes to become law.

[questionseverything]

15. Harvard just caved to *rump to get their $175 million

Why not go after them? Or any of a hundred others bowing to the great deceiver?

[BumRushDaShow]

22. That was Penn

Harvard is still fighting them in court!

[questionseverything]

24. Ty for the correction but the points the same, why start singling out paramount

They seem like small potatoes 🥔

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Paramount is trying to get FCC approval for a buyout/merger with Skydance

that is worth I think $8 billion. The perception of a potential "quid pro quo" of "settling" in order to assure government approval, is suspected here. The original lawsuit that 45 filed against CBS was something like $20 billion.

An $8 billion buyout is much more than tens or even hundreds of millions "pay or lose" when it comes to these various colleges and universities.

[Javaman]

16. yup, I knew this was coming...

I listen to a great podcast called "the business" they have been talking about this for weeks and it's a bribe.

this is what happens when you deal with the orange asshole.

they offered him a slot to air his grievances, but he knew they would tear him a new one, so they chose to play his stupid little game.

they fucked around and found out.

[BidenRocks]

17. I'm pretty sure that there were

California laws broken.
I recall Gov. Newsom say a month or so ago that they were looking into this.

CBS? I watch Colbert. That is all.
I quit networks long ago.

[cstanleytech]

19. Good. NT

[IcyPeas]

20. Explain this to me like I'm a 5 year old....

All these millions and millions of dollars that Trump and his administration keep "winning"..... break it down for me.... where does it go? Who gets what? How is it divvied up?

Is there even an attempt to make it look legit? Is it officially recorded for history somewhere?

[BumRushDaShow]

23. If the federal government assesses penalties or fines

that stuff is supposed to be deposited in the Treasury. Depending on how the settlement was drafted, some may then go out to specified "impacted" parties if designated in the settlement.

[onenote]

26. As described by a statement regarding the terms of the settlement:

A portion of the $16 million goes to cover Trump's legal fees. The rest goes to the Trump library.

[IcyPeas]

27. Thanks.... The trump "lie-brary"

[Justice matters.]

29. Lie-ke the $1 Trillion gold-plated (inside) plane...

The convicted idiot never ends his lifelong crime spree of screwing as many people as he can.

Still doing it every single day.

[Justice matters.]

28. The Kurrent Korrupt Kourt will exonerate all the convicted idiot's victims

of anything they will be found guilty of (if any).

The only and the best way to fight back is to launch a national boycott of CBS, CBS News, and everything Paramount, movies and cables included.

A clear example to the corrupt executives must be made by the sacrosanct We The People.

[BGRD]

30. Thanks to Senator Wyden

I hope the executives and lawyers who approved this 16 million dollar bribe are called before Congress to explain what the bribe was paid for? Subpoena them and the Trump lawyers (and their emails and travel records.)
The Republicans do not seem to be worried about electoral consequences. Maybe the Heritage Foundation has a secret Opus Dei plan for "Hungarian" style elections.

[hunter]

33. "Traditional" television in the U.S.A. needs to die.

They made Trump, they can go to hell with him.

[Bengus81]

35. Hell YES...now your talking. This BS extortion,which is always passed on to consumers

has to fucking stop.

[BigMin28]

36. It is

My sincerest wish that the TSF, being what he is, sticks it to Paramount and doesn't allow the merger. He is running a protection racket, and some people seem happy to pay.

[republianmushroom]

37. Vow, ( chuckle, chuckle) we shall see if it happens.

[AdamGG]

38. It's not just CBS

Many of the nation's top law firms reached agreements with Trump to not represent people he doesn't like. And, the point of the CBS payment isn't the $16 million, it's for the fact that they did it to have a chilling effect on other networks doing critical coverage in the future.

CBS caving breaks basic tenets of journalism, but unfortunately it's not just them. It's a master plan that's being executed by people who are smarter than Trump to establish authoritarian rule, or something that's very close to it. We need to push back in every possible way and pressure the entities that are in danger of caving or have caved. It's depressing that so many in America seem able to acquiesce to this.