Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Wednesday that the regulatory review of Warner’s deal with Netflix has begun, even as Paramount mounts a hostile takeover bid.
Two senators are now coming forward and pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi to recuse herself from the review of the deal.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal say the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent, has been “surrounded by a cesspool of corruption and political favoritism.”
And “the corruption concerns related to this deal extend to your office,” the senators asserted in a letter to Bondi on Wednesday.
The letter, obtained by CNN, noted that Bondi’s previous employer, the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, has been hired by both Paramount and Netflix as the companies seek Trump administration approval.
Disclosure forms indicate that Ballard has been representing Paramount all year long and has been working with Netflix since March.
“The DOJ already faces allegations that Ballard has inappropriately influenced the Trump Administration’s antitrust enforcement decisions,” Warren and Blumenthal wrote.
When asked about the senators’ push for recusal, DOJ spokesperson Gates McGavick told CNN, “All officials at the Department of Justice follow the guidance of career ethics officials.”
A spokesperson for Ballard Partners called the senators’ letter a “blindly partisan” attack on the attorney general.
“We have proudly represented many of the world’s top entertainment companies for some time, and we represent all our clients with absolute and unyielding integrity, complying with every ethical restriction,” the company said. “We have never once communicated with the U.S. Attorney General about any Department of Justice matter or any other matter before the U.S. government. Period. Full stop. End of story. These blindly partisan attacks on Attorney General Bondi’s integrity are utterly clownish and beneath the offices held by the letter’s authors.”
While Bondi is likely to ignore the Democratic demands, the episode underscores the political tensions behind a review process that could reshape the media and entertainment landscape.
The outcome of the review will determine not only the future ownership of WBD’s assets, but also whether the Trump administration can credibly claim the process was free from political favoritism.
President Trump has said that he’ll be “involved” in the decision, despite a long history of past presidents leaving antitrust reviews to Justice Department experts.
A DOJ spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that Bondi and antitrust division chief Gail Slater would lead the review, which gave Warren and Blumenthal an opening to raise ethical concerns.
Bondi bristled at an October hearing when Blumenthal probed a connection between Ballard’s clients and the Justice Department’s actions. “I have abided by every ethics standard,” she said.
Already, numerous lawmakers in both parties have raised concerns about the implications of the media consolidation that either Warner Bros. deal would represent.
Warren has called the Netflix deal an “anti-monopoly nightmare” and the Paramount proposal a “five-alarm antitrust fire.”
Some Democrats in the House have also warned that if their party prevails in the midterm elections next year, they could push for divestitures, “which would undermine the strategic logic of this merger.”
On the Republican side of the aisle, Sen. Mike Lee has predicted an “intense antitrust hearing” over the Netflix deal.
Netflix has asserted that its takeover of Warner Bros. would be “pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-creator and pro-growth,” offering audiences and creators “even more choice, value and opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Paramount continues to urge shareholders to accept its $30-per-share takeover offer for all of WBD, including CNN.
Paramount’s leadership team has been both credited and criticized for forging close ties to the Trump administration.
Warren and Blumenthal wrote on Wednesday that those “aggressive efforts to curry favor with the president” have tainted the Warner bidding process with “the appearance of corruption.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the WBD board urged shareholders to reject Paramount’s bid. Zaslav said in a memo to WBD staffers, “We continue to have a signed transaction agreement with Netflix and we are working together to close the transaction, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. That regulatory review process has already begun.”
Casey Gannon contributed reporting.
