The president and his administration are openly counting down the days until CNN is in the hands of their ally, David Ellison. Trump has spent a decade obsessing over CNN and attempting to get the network sold to one of his pals. During his first administration, Trump tried to get CNN into the hands of Rupert Murdoch.
The president is finally on the verge of accomplishing his goal with the acquisition of CNN as part of the purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery by David Ellison.
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Since the Department of Justice can be counted on to sit on its hands and not investigate this dangerous media consolidation, members of Congress are stepping up to investigate what promises were made to Donald Trump in order to get his approval of the deal.
As part of their investigation, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote to David Ellison demanding answers about his dealings with the Trump administration.
The Democrats wrote:
President Trump stated that he would intervene in the proposed Netflix acquisition of Warner and would “be involved in that decision,” signaling to Paramount Skydance that currying his favor would influence the outcome of the sale of Warner. “[A] person close to Trump said the president will want Paramount and Netflix to compete for his approval of a deal.” Even FCC Chairman Brendan Carr—who has limited jurisdiction over the potential acquisition—decided to weigh in publicly on the deal in favor of Paramount Skydance.
You appear so confident about your success that you publicly stated that Paramount Skydance will secure “the necessary clearances quickly and efficiently,” presumably because of political interference from the Trump Administration.
The congressmen also raised questions about what Trump expects to get out of the new CNN ownership, the foreign money being used to fund the purchase, and the dangerous level of consolidation of the press and film industries under Ellison.