Department of Justice antitrust division approves takeover of Warner Bros Discovery by Trump ally David Ellison – report
The US Department of Justice’s antitrust division has approved the $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery by Donald Trump’s ally David Ellison though Paramount Skydance, Politico reports.
If the takeover is completed, it would give the pro-Trump billionaire control of not just CBS News, but also CNN. Ellison, a Trump supporter, is currently overseeing what CBS News veterans have called the destruction of CBS News as a non-partisan news organization.
Last week, in an Oval Office tirade directed at the CNN host Kaitlan Collins, Trump spoke as if the takeover was already assured and suggested that the broadcaster would soon stop asking him uncomfortable questions.
“CNN’s a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter standing right there,” he said. “CNN does such false reporting. But now they have new ownership, so maybe they’ll straighten it out.”
Ellison has already appointed a conservative opinion journalist, Bari Weiss, to oversee CBS News, leading to a wave of firings at 60 Minutes. Before his acquisition of the CBS owner Paramount was approved, the broadcaster announced that one prominent late-night critic of Trump, Stephen Colbert, would lose his show. Acquiring Warner Bros would also give Ellison control over HBO and so the weekly broadcast of another Trump critic, John Oliver.
Key events
Jeremy Barr
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has decided to approve the $111bn merger of Paramount Skydance, controlled by the Ellison family, and Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of networks like CNN and HBO.
The deal was approved by the justice department’s anti-trust division after months of review, and despite the concerns of many people in the entertainment and media industries who believe it will hurt competition by reducing the number of film studios and – most likely – merging two news networks, Paramount’s CBS News and CNN.
“The Division has completed its analysis of the proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Bros and determined based on the evidence received in its investigation that the transaction is not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers, including with respect to: (1) streaming video on demand (“SVOD”); (2) linear television; and (3) studio development, production, or distribution of films for theatrical release,” the agency said on Friday evening.
While the US government’s approval is a major win for the deal, hurdles remain. Earlier this week, the UK competition watchdog opened an investigation into the merger to determine whether it will result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set a 7 August deadline to determine whether the merger requires a more in-depth review. In addition to reviewing the deal, European regulators are investigating the funding behind the merger; three sovereign-wealth funds in the Gulf have committed a combined $24bn. Both reviews have July deadlines.
Dharna Noor
Bridget Brink, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in a swing congressional district in Michigan, will hold a Friday evening fundraiser in Washington, DC hosted by a senior director at ExxonMobil.
The invitation, posted on the Democratic fundraising site ActBlue, says the host for the event is Yuri Kim, a former diplomat who is now a senior director of international government relations at the oil giant. Ticket prices begin at $250 and top out at $3,500.
Brink, a former ambassador to Ukraine who resigned in protest last year, accusing the Trump administration of “appeasement” of Russia, is running in a tight primary against Will Lawrence, co-founder of the youth-led climate justice organization the Sunrise Movement, which in 2018 mainstreamed the call for a Green New Deal to slash planet-heating pollution while creating jobs.
Both Brink and Lawrence are attempting to unseat Republican Tom Barrett, who has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry over his career and voted in favor of fossil fuel expansion. The fundraiser, first spotted by local reporter Brad LaPlante, comes amid a heated fight over energy and artificial intelligence datacenters in Michigan’s seventh district.
Lawrence is backing the proposal for a nationwide datacenter moratorium, introduced by his supporter Bernie Sanders, and told the Guardian he believes the unfettered expansion of gas to power artificial intelligence “a form of climate denial”. Brink, meanwhile, said: “Local communities should hold the decision making power on building datacenters, with transparency and accountability from corporations and government officials.”
Neither Barrett nor the third candidate in the Democratic primary, Matt Maasdam, are backing the datacenter moratorium proposal.
The district’s primary election will be held on 4 August.
Department of Justice antitrust division approves takeover of Warner Bros Discovery by Trump ally David Ellison – report
The US Department of Justice’s antitrust division has approved the $110bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery by Donald Trump’s ally David Ellison though Paramount Skydance, Politico reports.
If the takeover is completed, it would give the pro-Trump billionaire control of not just CBS News, but also CNN. Ellison, a Trump supporter, is currently overseeing what CBS News veterans have called the destruction of CBS News as a non-partisan news organization.
Last week, in an Oval Office tirade directed at the CNN host Kaitlan Collins, Trump spoke as if the takeover was already assured and suggested that the broadcaster would soon stop asking him uncomfortable questions.
“CNN’s a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter standing right there,” he said. “CNN does such false reporting. But now they have new ownership, so maybe they’ll straighten it out.”
Ellison has already appointed a conservative opinion journalist, Bari Weiss, to oversee CBS News, leading to a wave of firings at 60 Minutes. Before his acquisition of the CBS owner Paramount was approved, the broadcaster announced that one prominent late-night critic of Trump, Stephen Colbert, would lose his show. Acquiring Warner Bros would also give Ellison control over HBO and so the weekly broadcast of another Trump critic, John Oliver.
Detrumpification work on Kennedy Center facade stops as rain pours down
As a thunderstorm dumps pouring rain on Washington DC, our live video feed from the Kennedy Center shows that workers have stopped erecting scaffolding around the name of Donald Trump on the facade and retreated.
It is not clear if the work stopped due to the rain, or possibly high winds and lightning, or if the plan was to take a step in the direction of complying with the court order to remove the president’s name from the memorial to John F Kennedy by the end of the day without actually doing so.
We will keep you updated.
Workers poised to remove Trump’s name from Kennedy Center building
Workers are preparing to remove Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center building in Washington after a judge earlier denied a last-minute request from Trump’s hand-picked board to pause a ruling that ordered the removal by today.
A crowd has gathered to watch the lettering get taken down and have been intermittently cheering as workers erect the scaffolding.
The day so far
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A federal judge extended a court-ordered block on the creation and operation of the Trump administration’s $1.8bn “anti-weaponization fund”. Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that it will remain blocked until further notice from the court amid mixed messages from the government over the fund. “We just don’t have the absolute certainty that this fund won’t rear its head in another form,” she said. Brinkema said she would lift her order if acting attorney general Todd Blanche and treasury secretary Scott Bessent filed a declaration under penalty of perjury that the fund was not moving forward in the next week. Here’s my colleague Sam Levine’s report.
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A judge denied a request from the Kennedy Center to pause a ruling that had ordered Trump’s name removed from the building by today’s deadline. Trump’s hand-picked board at the Kennedy Center had mounted the last-ditch effort to keep his name on the facade of the building this morning following a vote yesterday.
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A federal judge declined to block Donald Trump from staging a UFC event on the White House South Lawn on Sunday. The mixed martial arts show is part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary – and timed for the president’s 80th birthday. More on that here.
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The FBI raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and showed up at the homes of staffers, MS NOW reported last night. A board member of the organization, which works to register voters in the state and carries out pro-democracy and anti-gerrymandering work, told MS Now that agents asked about voter fraud with “straight-up intimidation tactics” and were “basically trying to fish for information”. It comes as Trump continues to baselessly claim that voter fraud is rampant, including alleging that there’s “cheating” going on in California’s elections, and repeat his lies about the 2020 election.
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The House oversight committee sent a letter to Alan Dershowitz formally requesting him to appear for a transcribed interview before the panel on 9 July, as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this week, the committee’s chair James Comer said he would be asking Dershowitz to appear before the panel, based on the testimony of Lesley Groff, Epstein’s longtime assistant, who testified before the committee on Tuesday, as well as “a meeting that I had afterwards with several of the Epstein survivors”. More on this story here.
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And finally, Donald Trump and his allies have discussed pushing lawmakers to pass a symbolic resolution aimed at voiding his first-term impeachments, the Wall Street Journal reported last night. Experts say it would have little legal significance, since the constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment. Here’s my colleague David Smith’s story.
‘Straight-up intimidation tactics’: FBI raids offices of Ohio voting rights group
The FBI raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and showed up at the homes of staffers, MS NOW reported last night.
Prentiss Haney, a board member of the organization, which works to register voters in the state and carries out pro-democracy and anti-gerrymandering work, told MS Now that agents asked about voter fraud with “straight-up intimidation tactics” and were “basically trying to fish for information”.
The incident comes as Donald Trump continues to baselessly claim that voter fraud is rampant, including alleging that there’s “cheating” going on in California’s elections, and repeat his lies about the 2020 election.
In January, the FBI also raided a Georgia elections hub for records related to the 2020 presidential election, and California prosecutors have said they’re investigating multiple claims of voter fraud in the Los Angeles mayor’s race as a result of Trump’s un-evidenced claims.
“It’s clear that this administration is fishing to try to drum up stories around fraud,” Haney told NBC News. “It’s clear that this administration is trying to target civil rights leaders and community leaders and folks who are doing that work, because they don’t see a path for themselves to actually legitimately hold power beyond this year.”
Former Ohio senator and Democratic nominee for the state’s special Senate election in November Sherrod Brown said the reports of the FBI raid were “deeply disturbing” and “a transparent attempt at silencing Ohioans and their ability to vote in free and fair elections”.
He added: “Federal law enforcement should never try to intimidate eligible voters from exercising their right to participate in democracy. The FBI should immediately make public any and all activities around these raids in Ohio. For years, Ohio has had safe and secure elections that have been administered in a bipartisan fashion. Any attempt to intimidate Ohio voters is wrong, and will not work.”
Judge denies Kennedy Center request for pause in ruling ordering removal of Trump’s name from building
A judge has denied a request from the Kennedy Center to pause a ruling that had ordered Donald Trump’s name removed from the building by today’s deadline.
Trump’s hand-picked board at the Kennedy Center had mounted the last-ditch effort to keep his name on the facade of the building this morning following a vote yesterday.
US district judge Christopher Cooper ruled on 29 May that Trump’s name was illegally added to the iconic Washington performing arts facility. Cooper said that only Congress could institute a change to the Kennedy Center’s name and ordered references to Trump to be removed within 14 days (which takes us up to today).
He also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.
The board vote marked a shift from a 4 June memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s office of general counsel which said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center”.
The Kennedy Center’s website dropped Trump’s name earlier this week in compliance with the ruling. And an email sent to members this week offering ticket packages for the 28 June Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.
US judge won’t block Trump’s UFC mixed martial arts event at White House
A federal judge has declined to block Donald Trump from hosting the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House South Lawn on Sunday, in a mixed martial arts show timed for the president’s 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
US district judge Amit Mehta ruled against two Virginia residents who argued in a lawsuit that Trump’s administration exceeded its authority for the event, dubbed “UFC Freedom 250”, by among other things failing to obtain congressional authorization. The plaintiffs had sought a judicial order to block the event.
The UFC event will feature mixed martial arts bouts contested in an octagonal cage situated inside a 92ft-tall claw-like structure erected in recent weeks on the White House’s South Lawn, with weigh-ins for the fighters at the Lincoln Memorial.
The plaintiffs sued on 6 June, arguing that the Trump administration’s authorization of the 14 June event was unlawful.
The lawsuit said such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not consent to the erection of “The Claw” and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.
It said that UFC CEO Dana White, a longtime Trump friend and ally, denied that the event’s timing is a birthday celebration for Trump and maintained the timing is a “coincidence”. But, the suit added, White has acknowledged that the event was “Trump’s idea”.
The suit also argued that the fight is “private” and “for-profit”, and alleged that even though the UFC claims it is “eating” the whole cost of the event and is not selling tickets, “the event will likely be profitable for the UFC and its partners” as the organization is selling VIP and sponsorship packages.
It also claimed, that while some preliminary fights will be broadcast on cable networks, the “main card” will be exclusively broadcast on streaming platform Paramount+, noting that Paramount Skydance is “run by two other Trump allies, Larry and David Ellison”.
The filing reads:
The UFC Freedom 250 event also is not being held ‘for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence.’ Rather, UFC Freedom 250 is being held for the financial benefit of the UFC, Paramount, and their advertisers, and to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Donald Trump’s birth.
The Trump administration said in a court filing that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed in their claims as they had not shown how they would be harmed by the UFC event. There is a history of holding public events on the White House South Lawn, the justice department told Mehta.
The administration said more than 4,000 spectators are expected to attend the fights.
House oversight committee formally requests Alan Dershowitz to appear for interview as part of Jeffrey Epstein investigation
Anna Betts
Today, the House oversight committee sent a letter to Alan Dershowitz formally requesting him to appear for a transcribed interview before the panel on 9 July, as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
“Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, documents obtained by the Committee, and your former role as Mr. Epstein’s attorney, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation” the letter from Representative James Comer, the Republican who chairs the committee, reads.
The letter said the committee would release the transcript and video of the interview after it takes place.
The letter comes as earlier this week, Comer announced that he would be asking Dershowitz to appear before the panel. At a news conference this week, Comer said that the decision was based on the testimony of Lesley Groff, Epstein’s longtime assistant, who testified before the committee on Tuesday, as well as “a meeting that I had afterwards with several of the Epstein survivors”.
“We will have questions for him and we will give him an opportunity to come in and answer several questions that arose yesterday based on Ms Groff’s testimony and some things that someone of the Epstein survivors said,” Comer said.
The transcript of Groff’s testimony has not yet been released by the committee.
Dershowitz, a Harvard law school professor who was a member of Epstein’s legal team that negotiated Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea deal, has said in recent interviews that he was willing to testify before the committee.
In an interview with the Guardian earlier this week, Dershowitz said that he is “not a reluctant witness, I wanted to testify, as I said from day one, I want the truth to come out”.
“Everything I did in relation to the Epstein case, I’m proud of,” he said.
Dershowitz has faced scrutiny over the years for his past ties to Epstein. And in 2014, Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein survivor, alleged that Dershowitz sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager as part of Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. Dershowitz has repeatedly denied those claims and has never been charged with any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Giuffre sued Dershowitz in 2019, alleging that he defamed her when denying her claims, but dropped the lawsuit in 2022, and said that she “may have made a mistake” in accusing him.
Outcry in Texas over waivers to allow border wall in Big Bend national park
Roque Planas
The Trump administration has waived a slew of environmental and historical preservation laws that would allow it to build a towering border wall that cuts through Big Bend national park, a vast protected wilderness in south Texas.
Congress poured a whopping $46.5bn for border wall construction into the “Big, Beautiful” bill last year, supercharging Donald Trump’’s ambition to wall off the southern border with Mexico. The longest unwalled stretches lie along a roughly 500-mile (800km) section of west Texas that Customs and Border Protection calls the “Big Bend sector”.
That corridor includes some of the largest chunks of protected land in a state that is 95% privately owned, including Big Bend national park, Big Bend Ranch state park and Black Gap wildlife management area.
More here:
Federal judge extends court-ordered block on $1.8bn Trump anti-weaponization fund
A federal judge on Friday extended a court-ordered block on the creation and operation of the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization fund” – a $1.8bn settlement fund alleged victims of a weaponized government, the Associated Press reports.
Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that the “anti-weaponization fund” will remain blocked until further notice from the court.
Earlier this month, following fierce bipartisan backlash, acting attorney general Todd Blanche told Congress that the government was scrapping its plans for the fund.
Though government attorneys are now arguing that lawsuits challenging the fund are now moot, plaintiffs’ attorneys aren’t satisfied by Blanche’s assurances.
Read more about the fund here:
Texas senator John Cornyn has told the New York Times that he isn’t seeking revenge after Donald Trump endorsed his challenger, scandal-ridden Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, and ended his Senate career after a bruising primary race – but added that Trump should not demand “slavish” loyalty from his party.
Trump said at the time that Cornyn would “remain my friend for a long time to come”. “If that’s the way friends treat you, you wonder about his enemies,” Cornyn told the NYT. He maintains he feels the most important factor in his loss to Paxton was low voter turnout, “but certainly the president’s endorsement had an impact.”
Having come to terms with his defeat, he joins a handful of other Senate Republicans not seeking re-election or defeated in primaries at Trump’s behest who now have added room to manouevre politically. “It does give some of us a little more freedom, and certainly leverage,” he said.
Cornyn told the Times he is not a “wounded bear” seeking revenge, but said that Trump is hurting the Republican party with self-serving decisions and by insisting on absolute loyalty. The president is ultimately setting himself up for a midterm “disaster” that would pave the way for “the most miserable two years of his life”, Cornyn said.
He also told the NYT that the provision granting Trump, his family and his businesses immunity for IRS audits needs to be overturned. “I think that’s a terrible mistake,” Cornyn said. “The president needs to be treated like everybody else.”
Despite his self-assessed “99.3%” voting record in line with the president, Trump threw him under the bus. Cornyn told the Times:
If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody. There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100%, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants. But obviously that’s not what the senator’s role is supposed to be, especially in terms of checks and balances.
He said he fears the GOP is in for a rough time in November’s midterms and Trump in for a difficult two years, in part because of self-inflicted wounds like his endorsement of Paxton putting the Texas seat at risk.
“It’s going to make things harder, certainly more expensive in Texas, and make it harder around the country,” Cornyn said, predicting that the president would come to regret his actions.
I don’t say that with any sort of desire for vengeance; I just think that’s the way it’s going to be. He’s going to have the most miserable two years of his life in the last two years of his term, I think, because I think November is going to be a disaster.
