Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to recuse herself from regulatory review of any Warner Bros. merger.
In the letter, Warren and Blumenthal cited “potential conflicts of interest” for Bondi due to the six years she spent at her former employer, the lobbying firm Ballard Partners. Since Bondi was nominated to the post of Attorney General, the letter notes that Ballard has signed on both Netflix and Paramount as clients.
And, according to disclosures from October, Ballard lobbies for both companies and was involved in the Paramount-Skydance merger.
“In line with our anti-corruption oversight and legislative priorities, and given the cloud of corruption surrounding this merger and your former employer Ballard’s potential role in this merger, we ask that you recuse yourself from the review of this purchase,” the letter reads.
A DOJ spokesperson had said that Bondi would lead the Trump administration’s review of the merger, alongside DOJ antitrust head Gail Slater.
The letter further claims that Ballard has been “enmeshed in the cloud of corruption surrounding the White House,” amid reports that Ballard lobbyists connected corporate clients with fundraisers for President Donald Trump’s ballroom. This is just one example of the close relationship between Ballard and the White House, according to the letter.
The call for recusal comes the same day that Warner Bros. rejected Paramount’s $30 per share hostile bid for the company. Netflix had the winning bid as of Dec. 5, with an offer of $27.75 per WBD share, but with plans to only buy Warner Bros. studios and streaming assets, and to spin off WBD’s cable networks. Paramount could choose to submit a higher bid, Netflix will have the chance to match it, or respond with their own counter, effectively kicking off a new bidding war.
“DOJ must guarantee that any review of a potential Warner Bros. transaction is decided based upon the law, not perverted by political favoritism and cronyism—particularly given the stakes of this case for consumers. Regardless of which of these two giant media conglomerates wins the bid for Warner Bros., a takeover will further consolidate the media market—risking higher prices and less variety for consumers,” the letter reads.
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