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Shari and the Senators

Status · Oliver Darcy · last updated

On Tuesday morning, three senators dispatched a letter to Paramount Global boss Shari Redstone, the culmination of growing worry among Democrats on Capitol Hill that the media conglomerate could be on the brink of engaging in an unlawful quid pro quo with Donald Trump. In the letter—signed by Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Bernie Sanders—the lawmakers warned that if Paramount settles Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” segment to win favor with the Trump administration, it could constitute criminal bribery—something that I’m told has also been cause for concern among the company’s three co-chief executives.

The senators reminded Paramount that it is illegal to “corruptly give anything of value”—in this case, a lucrative legal payout—in exchange for government action: namely, federal approval of its pending merger with Skydance Media. They pressed Redstone on whether the company has…

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Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson appear on The Megyn Kelly Show (Screen grab)

Selling ‘Sin’: After weeks of hype that consumed the Washington chattering class, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s “Original Sin” is finally on shelves. The book—which paints a damning picture of Joe Biden and his inner circle—is currently No. 3 on Amazon’s bestsellers list, and certainly destined to be a New York Times bestseller. But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing on the book tour. The duo made the baffling decision to sit for an interview with the intellectually dishonest Megyn Kelly, in which the right-wing bomb thrower…

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