Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty are facing ethics complaints from two government watchdog organizations over gifts they accepted from Paramount while the company had business before the agency, adding another layer of scrutiny to Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Democracy Defenders Fund and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have filed complaints with the Office of Government Ethics, the FCC’s Office of Inspector General and the FCC’s ethics office, arguing that luxury tickets provided by Paramount violated federal ethics rules or, at minimum, created the appearance of conflicts of interest.
The complaints follow a ProPublica investigation published last month reporting that Paramount provided Carr complimentary tickets to the Kennedy Center Honors over multiple years while the company had matters before the FCC. The nonprofit newsroom also reported that Trusty’s financial disclosure forms listed more than $12,000 worth of tickets to Paramount-sponsored events.
According to the complaints, the gifts raise questions about whether FCC officials can impartially oversee regulatory matters involving Paramount, including the company’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The watchdog groups are asking ethics officials to investigate whether federal rules were violated and are urging Carr to recuse himself from any future FCC proceedings involving the proposed transaction.
The complaints do not allege that the gifts influenced any FCC decisions.
An FCC spokesperson disputed the allegations, telling TheWrap: “The accusations in this article are unfounded. Career FCC ethics officials have consistently cleared Democrat and Republican FCC officials alike to attend this event over the course of many years. This has been consistent from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration to the Obama Administration. There has been no change in recent years, and these decisions have undergone the requisite OGE review for the past decade. It is pretty curious that this is now coming up after all this time.”
In response, a Paramount spokesperson told TheWrap, “As is practice for decades CBS has always invited government officials from both parties.”
The FCC previously told ProPublica that agency ethics officials reviewed and approved the gifts under applicable federal ethics rules. Paramount has likewise said inviting public officials to the Kennedy Center Honors has long been a bipartisan practice and complies with applicable ethics guidance.
The ethics complaints arrive as Paramount seeks regulatory approval for its proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, one of the largest media transactions currently before federal regulators. Because the deal includes the transfer of broadcast licenses, it requires FCC approval, placing additional attention on the agency’s handling of matters involving the company.
