Paramount accused of bribery as it settles Trump lawsuit for $16 million

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CBS owner will not excuse reporting however offers $16M to governmental library.

President Donald Trump throughout an interview in the instruction space at the White House on June 27, 2025.

Credit: Getty Images|Joe Raedle

CBS owner Paramount has actually reached a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over his claim that 60 Minutes stealthily controlled a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris. Trump’s claim has actually been commonly referred to as pointless, however Paramount appeared inspired to settle since its pending $8.4 billion merger with Skydance required regulative approval from the Trump administration.

In a declaration supplied to Ars today, Paramount stated it “has reached an agreement in principle to resolve the lawsuit filed by President Trump and Representative [Ronny] Jackson in the Northern District of Texas and a threatened defamation action concerning a separate 60 Minutes report.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) required a bribery examination into Paramount. “With Paramount folding to Donald Trump at the same time the company needs his administration’s approval for its billion-dollar merger, this could be bribery in plain sight,” she stated in a declaration today. “Paramount has refused to provide answers to a congressional inquiry, so I’m calling for a full investigation into whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken.”

Sens. Warren, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) formerly informed Paramount Chair Shari Redstone in a letter that settling the claim might breach the federal bribery law making it “illegal to corruptly give anything of value to public officials to influence an official act.”

NPR reported that “Trump declared victory in holding ‘the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,’ according to a spokesperson for his legal team, who said Paramount and CBS had no choice but to settle. ‘President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.'”

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Payment to future governmental library

Paramount informed us that the settlement terms were proposed by an arbitrator which it will pay $16 million, consisting of complainants’ costs and expenses. That quantity, minus the costs and expenses, will be designated to Trump’s future governmental library, Paramount stated. Trump’s grievance looked for a minimum of $20 billion in damages.

Paramount likewise stated that “no amount will be paid directly or indirectly to President Trump or Rep. Jackson personally” which the settlement will launch Paramount from “all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement, including the Texas action and the threatened defamation action.”

Warren’s declaration stated the “settlement exposes a glaring need for rules to restrict donations to sitting presidents’ libraries,” which she will “introduce new legislation to rein in corruption through presidential library donations. The Trump administration’s level of sheer corruption is appalling and Paramount should be ashamed of putting its profits over independent journalism.”

Trump formerly got settlements from ABC, Meta, and X Corp.

Paramount stated the settlement “does not include a statement of apology or regret.” It “agreed that in the future, 60 Minutes will release transcripts of interviews with eligible US presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.”

FCC’s news distortion examination

Trump and Paramount formerly informed the court that they remained in innovative settlement negotiations and are set up to submit a joint status report on Thursday.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has actually been penetrating CBS over the Harris interview and holding up Paramount’s merger with Skydance. Carr restored a grievance that was formerly dismissed by the FCC and which declares that CBS purposefully misshaped the news by airing 2 various responses provided by Harris to the very same concern about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

CBS launched an unedited records and video camera feeds of the interview that reveal the 2 clips merely revealed 2 various sentences from the exact same response. Carr wasn’t pleased with CBS’s action and has actually stated he would think about the news distortion grievance in the FCC’s evaluation of the Paramount/Skydance merger.

Now that Paramount has actually settled with Trump, it would not be unexpected to see Carr end the news distortion examination and authorize the merger. Paramount has actually firmly insisted that the “lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process.”

CBS officers resigned

In April, 60 Minutes Executive Producer Bill Owens resigned and apparently informed personnel in a memo that “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience.” CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon resigned in May, stating it had “become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward.”

The Freedom of journalism Foundation informed Redstone in May that it prepares to submit an investor acquired claim on behalf of Paramount if the business settles with Trump.

“As you know, the prospect of settling has drawn widespread backlash from CBS News employees as well as outside journalists and First Amendment advocates and led to ridicule from late-night talk show hosts,” the group’s letter stated. “Disinterested experts almost unanimously agree that Trump’s lawsuit is frivolous. Everyone from US senators to respected financial writers have noted that a settlement could amount to a bribe to Trump and his administration in exchange for their approving and not impeding the Paramount-Skydance merger.”

Paramount itself stated in a court filing that the “lawsuit is an affront to the First Amendment and is without basis in law or fact.” The business’s movement to dismiss Trump’s claim is still pending, however the case would be closed when the settlement is authorized and settled.

Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom market, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, high speed customer affairs, lawsuit, and federal government policy of the tech market.

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