Once upon a time, but not so long ago, if an American president was involved with a company that had vital business before a federal agency, it would be expected that the chief executive would steer clear of all government deliberations about that firm and that his political appointees at this department would hand over the matter to career officials. But no more.
In yet one more chapter of the never-ending tale of brazen Trump corruption, the Federal Communications Commission chairman whom Trump installed, Brendan Carr, is overseeing both an investigation of CBS News and the ongoing $8 billion sale of the network’s parent corporation, Paramount, to Skydance Media—while simultaneously Trump is suing CBS News for $20 billion, alleging 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during last year’s presidential campaign.
Ponder this convoluted circumstance for a moment.
This is an Olympic conflict of interest. Trump, via Carr, can squeeze Paramount and Redstone and force a settlement of his lawsuit, which could result in Paramount paying millions to him.
Carr, a MAGA ideologue who wears a gold lapel pin in the shape of Trump’s profile, has to okay the Paramount-Skydance deal for it to be consummated because it involves the transfer of CBS broadcast licenses. And at the same time, Trump is negotiating a settlement with Paramount over his absolutely frivolous lawsuit against CBS News. If there’s no firewall between Trump and the FCC—and there isn’t, with Carr at its helm—Paramount has a powerful incentive to reach an agreement with Trump in order to gain approval from Carr for this mega-sale that would net mogul Shari Redstone’s family holding company, which controls Paramount, $2.4 billion.
Redstone herself will reportedly pocket over $500 million if the deal is okayed by the Trump administration. She recently recused herself from deliberations regarding the Trump-CBS News lawsuit, but she has certainly signaled her wish for the company to reach a settlement with Trump, which would probably entail some concessions from Paramount, including perhaps a payment to Trump and possibly an admission of wrongdoing. Many legal experts have declared that Trump’s lawsuit is without merit and that CBS News can easily win in court. Still, Paramount, by engaging in negotiations with Trump, has showed it would rather bend than battle while approval for the sale is pending.
This is an Olympic conflict of interest. Trump, via Carr, can squeeze Paramount and Redstone and force a settlement of his lawsuit, which could result in Paramount paying millions to him. It’s a mob-like shakedown: Hey Paramount, you want your billions? Reach a deal with Trump. And Carr is his Luca Brasi—the enforcer who applies the pressure to serve the criminal kingpin.
Carr, whose FCC is also investigating a third-party complaint about the 60 Minutes interview with Harris, has said this inquiry could also be part of his agency’s review of the Paramount transaction. That complaint was filed by the Center for American Rights, a right-wing outfit run by a former aide to onetime GOP Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Carr’s statement certainly sent a clear message: Unless Paramount addresses Trump’s ludicrous allegation that 60 Minutes committed “election interference” by editing the Harris interview, the FCC will nix the Paramount-Skydance deal.
Carr also has suggested that he could kill the Paramount sale unless the company eradicates its DEI efforts. He told Bloomberg in March, “Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” In February, Paramount’s co-CEOs—George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, and Brian Robbins—sent out a memo to staff noting the company would move to trash its DEI goals. In his interview with Bloomberg, Carr said the FCC’s review of deals would make sure a company has indeed deep-sixed its DEI programs.
This Trump-Carr-Paramount threesome is rotten, and it comes amid an orgy of Trump administration corruption.
During his second stint in the White House, Trump is raking in big bucks with a crypto firm he and his adult sons recently formed, even as he is now in charge of regulating—or not regulating—the high-flying cryptocurrency industry. As the New York Times recently reported, “Trump has leveraged his presidential powers in ways that have benefited the industry—and in some cases his own company—even though he had spent years deriding crypto as a haven for drug dealers and scammers.” His crypto venture allows favor-seekers, foreigners, influence-peddlers, corporations, connivers, and crooks to anonymously pour money directly into Trump’s pockets. This week, Trump’s cryptocurrency business announced that a fund backed by Abu Dhabi would be signing a $2 billion deal using Trump’s crypto. That could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for Trump and his kin. And Trump is offering White House visits to people who buy his digital coin.
Trump’s family business is engaged in multiple overseas business deals with firms tied to governments he regularly deals with as president. Days ago, the Trump Organization announced a venture with a Qatari government-owned company to develop a golf course and luxury home project there—two weeks before Trump is scheduled to travel to Qatar. His aides have pushed to bring the British Open golf tournament to a Trump resort in Scotland. Trump uses his office to promote his money-losing social media company, which last year paid Donald Trump Jr. $813,000 (or almost a quarter of its revenue) for showing up at board meetings and is currently starting to develop financial products to peddle. Trump has handed out pardons to campaign donors. He used the White House to sell cars for Elon Musk’s Tesla.
There’s plenty more. The bottom line is Trump is treating the White House as an extension of his business empire. Any hint of such self-dealing or shady business shenanigans by a president or vice president used to draw widespread cries of outrage. Before becoming president, Jimmy Carter put his peanut farm under control of a blind trust. Bill Clinton’s presidency was hit by a storm of scandal because of a modest investment in an Arkansas land deal. When Dick Cheney was George W. Bush’s vice president, his ties to Halliburton, a gargantuan military contractor, sparked controversy, with critics wondering whether the Bush-Cheney administration afforded the company, where Cheney had served as CEO, preferential treatment.
These episodes pale in comparison to what Trump is pulling off. The Paramount scheme ought to be a full-fledged scandal of its own. As is true for all the other acts of corruption Trump has been committing non-stop. But each one distracts from the other, and Trump’s flagrant breaches of ethics and his sleazy deals have become the new normal. They are dutifully reported by the media, but they have not yet become BFDs with political consequences for Trump and his Republican comrades.
Last month, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes who had worked at the show for 26 years, resigned to protest Paramount’s increasing supervision of the program’s content—a move from the company that was presumably driven by its desire to appease Trump and Carr. And on the show itself, correspondent Scott Pelley delivered a commentary in support of Owens, noting that Paramount was threatening “the independence that honest journalism requires.” This was a public embarrassment for Paramount, but it didn’t seem to change its effort to reach a deal with Trump so its owners can bank billions.
All of this stinks. Yet there seem to be no roadblocks to the Trump-Carr caper. And with all the chaos and crisis being caused by Trump, Musk, and their minions, this racket barely stands out. Trump’s mobification of the US government is in plain sight—and with no end in sight.
This post has been syndicated from Mother Jones, where it was published under this address.