'Secret Trump payoff': Dems suspect right-wing 'side deal' sweetened CBS merger

A trio of Democratic U.S. senators on Monday launched a probe into reports that President Donald Trump's legal team struck a secretive side deal with Skydance—the prospective owner of CBS—that includes millions of dollars worth of "broadcast transmissions" supporting right-wing causes.

In a letter to Skydance CEO David Ellison, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote that Trump himself appeared to confirm the existence of the side deal in comments to reporters about his $16 million settlement with Paramount, the current owner of CBS that is seeking federal approval for its pending merger with Skydance.

Trump suggested the settlement was worth twice as much as the publicly reported figure, saying, "We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million—or maybe more than that in advertising... So it's like $32 to maybe $35 million. I think that's what they did."

The senators described the alleged side deal as a "potential secret Trump payoff."

"This admission appears to corroborate reporting that claims you reached a 'side deal' with the president, the terms of
which involve CBS airing public service announcements 'and other broadcast transmissions' worth between $15 million and $20 million that 'support conservative causes supported by President Trump.' The nature and existence of this arrangement are uncertain, with at least one anonymous source calling the reports 'false.'"

The president's comments aligned with a New York Poststory published earlier this month alleging that Ellison vowed to "run between $15 million and $20 million of public service ads to promote causes supported by the president" once the Skydance CEO takes over CBS.

Paramount denied having any knowledge of a side deal.

The Democratic senators wrote in their letter to Ellison that the president's comments and related reporting "raise fresh questions about corruption in the Trump administration and President Trump's willingness to accept payments from entities with significant policy interests before agencies he controls."

The senators demanded that Ellison provide answers to seven questions, including whether there is "currently any arrangement under which you or Skydance will provide compensation, advertising, or promotional activities that in any way assist President Trump, his family, his presidential library, or other administration officials" and whether Ellison has "personally discussed with President Trump, any of his family members, any Trump administration officials, or presidential library fund personnel any matters related to the Paramount-Skydance transaction."

The letter was sent days after Ellison met with Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr—a Trump loyalist—to discuss the pending merger with Paramount.

The meeting, according to Skydance's counsel, included a discussion of "Skydance's commitment to unbiased journalism and its
embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS' editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers."

As Varietynoted, "That's significant because Carr, appointed by Trump, had reopened an agency probe into a 'news distortion' complaint against CBS over the allegedly deceptive editing of a '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris segment—the same interview that Trump sued Paramount and CBS over."

"The application of the FCC's 'news distortion' policy in this way was highly unusual, according to former agency officials," Variety reported.