President Donald Trump's administration came under fire on Monday after a new report revealed that it railroaded antitrust lawyers into approving a MAGA media deal that some observers said could harm consumers.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Trump administration lawyers were leaning toward challenging Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes CNN. That was until senior leaders at the Department of Justice closed the investigation last Friday, saying the deal would be "good for competition," according to the report.
"Some staffers in the Justice Department’s antitrust division believe the statement was designed to make it harder for state attorneys general to challenge the deal in court, the people said. The investigative staff didn’t participate in writing the statement, the people said," the report reads in part.
Political analysts and observers reacted to the report on social media.
"This is corruption — from corporate lobbying, to the silencing of the media. It’s also clearly bad for our economy and consumers. States must continue to pursue every option to challenge this," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) posted on X.
"Unreal. Justice Department staff were railroaded again by political interference in the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger review," Lee Hepner, a California-based antitrust lawyer, posted on X.
"The same form of justice that put Ghislaine Maxwell in Club Fed for trafficking children. 100% corruption 100% of the time," David Poland, a political commentator, posted on X.
"WSJ reporting making clear that DOJ decision to clear Paramount/WBD merger had nothing to do with the facts or the law and everything to do with corruption," Alvaro Bedoya, a former FTC commissioner, posted on X.
"DOJ's crony capitalism in blessing the Paramount-Warners deal is such a pile of [expletive] that the division head who blessed the deal immediately resigned," Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of Progress Chamber, posted on X.