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The Republican-controlled Congress may have all but abandoned its oversight authority when it comes to the executive branch, but state officials are picking up the slack and opening inquiries into potential scandals out of the Trump administration.
The latest example comes out of California, where the state Senate is looking into Paramount’s reported settlement offer to Donald Trump over his lawsuit alleging “mental anguish” due to the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview on CBS News with then-Vice President Kamala Harris during last year’s presidential election.
Semafor was first to report on a letter from California Democrats asking former CBS News executives about a recent Wall Street Journal report that Paramount, CBS News’ parent company, had offered Trump a multimillion-dollar settlement that the president apparently didn’t think was generous enough. In the letter sent May 30, state Sens. Thomas Umberg, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Josh Becker, who chairs the Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee, write that the reported offer — which comes as Paramount seeks the administration’s approval for a merger — raises questions about potential bribery. (Trump has also called for CBS to lose its broadcast license.)
“If Paramount is entertaining settlement primarily to secure favorable regulatory treatment, this raises deeply troubling implications not just for journalism, but for the rule of law and the integrity of corporate governance,” they wrote.
The letter goes on to reference the potential threat to press freedoms if Paramount gives in to Trump via a potential settlement (rumors of which have already angered and alienated many CBS employees):
Such a settlement would signal that politically motivated lawsuits can succeed when paired with regulatory threats. It would damage public trust in CBS News and other California-based outlets, diminishing the state’s stature as a national leader in ethical journalism. Paramount’s capitulation would also undermine two essential pillars of a liberal democracy: a free press and an impartial, rule-of-law regulatory system.
The letter, addressed to former “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Bill Owens and former CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon, invites them to testify voluntarily at a joint hearing about internal objections to a potential settlement, whether editorial decisions were impacted by the potential settlement, whether internal counsel or other executives advised that the lawsuit was weak, and whether anyone advised that settling with Trump would help Paramount get approval for its proposed merger.
Paramount didn’t respond to MSNBC’s request for comment on the letter.
State officials elsewhere also aren’t waiting for Congress to get its act together when it comes to scrutinizing the Trump administration. New York Attorney General Letitia James took a tack similar to California earlier this year, when she launched a probe into potential insider trading related to Trump’s haphazard tariff policy.
Indeed, these are the types of scandals that Americans might reasonably expect their U.S. representatives and senators in Washington, D.C., to address. But in their absence, state leaders apparently must fill the void.