Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden are investigating whether Skydance Media CEO David Ellison may have cut a secret side deal with President Donald Trump following his $16 million settlement with Paramount.
Under the terms of the settlement, the payment will cover Trump’s legal fees and a donation to a future presidential library. It also included a commitment to share future transcripts of “60 Minutes” interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after they have aired, but stopped short of an apology or statement of regret from CBS about the editing of its Oct. 7 interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump has since suggested that the deal’s value could actually be worth north of $30 million when including additional funds for public service announcements. An individual close to the settlement negotiations previously told TheWrap there was anticipation there could be an additional “low-to-mid eight-figure allocation” set aside for PSAs for “conservative causes.” Paramount has denied that the settlement includes PSAs, while Skydance has declined to comment.
In a letter on Monday, the trio of senators said Trump’s remarks “raise fresh questions about corruption” as Paramount and Skydance await regulatory approval from the FCC for their pending $8 billion merger. The lawmakers also questioned whether Skydance may have been involved in the cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” after the late night host knocked the settlement as a “big fat bribe.”
Warren, Sanders and Wyden are seeking responses to the following seven questions by Aug. 4:
1. Is there 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? a. If so, what is the nature of this arrangement? What will you or Skydance provide, and what have you discussed receiving in return from the Trump Administration? b. Have any Skydance board members been involved in any of these discussions, or have you been involved in these discussions only in your personal capacity?
2. Have you 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? If so, what was the nature of these discussions?
3. Were you or any other Skydance executives involved in discussions about settling President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS? If so, please provide information regarding the timing, nature of, and participants in these discussions, including whether the pending transaction with Paramount was discussed.
4. Has Skydance agreed or have you personally agreed to make changes to Skydance’s content or Paramount’s or CBS’s content at the request of the Trump Administration, to facilitate approval of the transaction? If so, please describe those requests.
5. Were you or other Skydance executives involved in discussions about canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert? If so, please provide information regarding the timing, nature of, and participants in these discussions, including whether the pending transaction with Paramount was discussed.
6. Does Skydance have any policies, procedures, or guidance related to compliance with 18 U.S.C. 201 or any other laws governing public corruption? If so, please provide a copy of those policies and procedures.
7. Does Skydance conduct any trainings for its staff or executives related to compliance with 18 U.S.C. 201 or any other laws governing public corruption? If so, please provide details regarding these trainings.
A Skydance spokesperson declined to comment on the letter.
The letter follows a previous warning from the trio that Paramount settling with Trump could violate federal anti-bribery laws.
It also comes after Warren and a group of Democratic lawmakers unveiled the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act of 2025. The proposed legislation would require presidents to wait until after leaving office before fundraising or accepting donations, except for 501(c)(3) organizations who would be limited to a contribution cap of $10,000 total. It would also prohibit donations from foreign nationals or foreign governments, registered lobbyists, federal contractors and/or individuals seeking presidential pardons for two years after a president leaves office.
Additionally, it would prohibit straw donations, in which someone makes a donation under someone else’s name, ban the use of presidential library donations for personal expenses or unrelated financial obligations, and require all donations of $200 or more to be disclosed to the National Archives each calendar quarter during the president’s time in office and five years thereafter. Donor information, including name, employer and date and amount of the donation, would be published online in a searchable, downloadable format.
In addition to Warren, Sanders and Wyden, Sens. Edward Markey and Ben Ray Luján have called out the Paramount settlement and have urged the FCC to hold a full commission vote on the Skydance merger rather than approving the deal through its media bureau. Markey and Chuck Schumer have also asked commission chairman Brendan Carr to end the agency’s “partisan attacks” on CBS and to “cease interfering with the judgement of independent news organizations.”
The FCC’s review, which is required due to a transfer of broadcast licenses, is currently on day 248, per the agency’s website. The FCC typically makes decisions within an informal 180-day timeline, though that is not a strict deadline. FCC chairman Carr has previously said the Trump settlement talks were unrelated to the merger review.
Carr and Ellison recently met on July 15, where the latter “emphasized the public interest benefits” of the merger and expressed a commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints. Ellison also committed to promoting “non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity” at New Paramount and said its planned governance structure would “not be subject to any Chinese or other foreign influence” following concerns about Tencent Holdings’ minority stake of less than 5% in Skydance.
After triggering its second automatic 90-day extension, the Paramount-Skydance deal’s closing deadline has been pushed to Oct. 6. If the deal is not closed by then, the parties would have the option to terminate the deal, which would not be subject to the agreement’s $400 million breakup fee.
