House Democrats are launching an investigation into the controversial merger between Paramount Global and Skydance that has roiled CBS and sparked questions about whether the circumstances of its approval by the Federal Communications Commission constituted bribery.In a letter dated Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) wrote to David Ellison, CEO of the newly formed Paramount Skydance Corp. and son of the billionaire Larry Ellison, a top ally of President Donald Trump. The pair demanded to see a wide array of internal documentation surrounding the merger by Sept. 3. The FCC approved the $8 billion merger two weeks ago, amid much internal squabbling at Paramount after the media giant opted to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump against CBS News’ long-running “60 Minutes” program for $16 million.A decision to cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” — one of the most popular late night programs — shortly after the host dubbed the settlement a “big fat bribe” also raised alarms, as noted by Raskin and Pallone. (The network has insisted that canceling Colbert’s show was a purely financial decision.)The Democrats expressed concern about both the lawsuit settlement and apparent retaliatory actions, including the ouster of longtime “60 Minutes” producer Bill Owens and pledge by CBS to install an ombudsman to “root out” any “bias” in its news reporting. They also took issue with a reported “side deal” that would net Trump some $20 million worth of public service announcements for free, an arrangement that “does not appear to present any legitimate value to the public, only to President Trump,” they said.Raskin and Pallone complained about a lack of documentation on the “side deal,” noting that conversations between David Ellison and Trump at two UFC events were not included in the FCC’s docket, nor were conversations between Larry Ellison and Trump. “Two wrongs do not make a right,” read the Democrats’ letter. “Illegitimate demands from the FCC or the Administration do not absolve your company from wrongdoing.”“If Skydance offered a side deal of up to $20 million worth of advertisement or programming to President Trump in order to receive regulatory approval for the merger with Paramount, these actions would run afoul of federal and state anti-bribery statutes,” they said.“Similarly, if Paramount forced out CBS’s longtime leaders, spent $16 million to settle a sham lawsuit with President Trump, or canceled a highly popular comedy show that President Trump dislikes in order to curry favor with the Administration and to receive regulatory approval for the merger with Skydance, these actions would likely further embolden President Trump to use lawsuits and regulatory authority to attack media organizations that he finds objectionable in order to silence them.”“These actions by Paramount would also be illegal, running afoul of federal and state anti-bribery statutes,” read the letter.The letter’s contents were first reported by The Hill.Close