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Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Democratic Senators Warn Shari Redstone Settling Trump's '60 Minutes' Lawsuit Could Be Criminal Bribery
Democratic senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden warned Shari Redstone on Tuesday that settling Donald Trump's '60 Minutes' lawsuit in order to win approval for Paramount Global's merger with Skydance Media could violate federal anti-bribery laws. In a letter sent to Redstone on Tuesday morning and first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the trio said they were concerned 'Paramount appears to be trying to settle a lawsuit that it has assessed as 'completely without merit,' and moderating the content of its programs in order to obtain approval of this merger.' 'Under the federal bribery statute, it is illegal to corruptly give anything of value to public officials to influence an official act,' the letter continued. 'If Paramount officials make these concessions in a quid pro quo arrangement to influence President Trump or other Administration officials, they may be breaking the law.' Read the full letter here. The senators' letter noted that Paramount Global previously dismissed the lawsuit as 'completely without merit' and vowed to 'vigorously defend' itself. Then they asked Redstone address several related questions, among them if she still believes the case is without merit, if she or other company leaders have discussed settling in order to smooth things for the merger, of the company has forced changes on CBS News programming with that in mind, and if further such changes are coming. The senators also wanted to know Paramount has policies for compliance with federal laws against public corruption and if it has planned any further concessions to Trump. The senators cited as evidence for their concerns the increasing tumult at CBS news, which has effectively been in conflict with its parent company since Trump was elected for a second term. This included the resignation of CBS News president Wendy McMahon, who quit on Monday after 2 years on the job. 'It's become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward,' McMahon told employees, capping a tenure that saw increasing interference and public criticism from Redstone. She followed former '60 Minutes' executive producer Bill Owens, who quit in April, saying at the time that 'my '60 Minutes' priorities have always been clear. Maybe not smart, but clear. Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it.' Trump is suing CBS News and Paramount Global for $20 billion over the '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris last year, a lawsuit experts have called a 'sham'. Trump has baselessly accused the show of deceptively editing that interview. Since taking office, Trump's FCC has also opened an investigation. The letter comes one day after Sanders, separately, urged Redstone to 'not capitulate to Trump's attack on a free press.' Sanders and Warren were also signatories to a letter sent on May 7 urging Redstone to fight the lawsuit. The post Democratic Senators Warn Shari Redstone Settling Trump's '60 Minutes' Lawsuit Could Be Criminal Bribery appeared first on TheWrap.
West Australian
26-04-2025
- West Australian
Coroner's impossible job to make sense of mass stabbing
A year on, Bill Mohana is still haunted. "It never leaves you," he recalls of his witnessing the aftermath of the stabbing spree at Sydney's Bondi Junction shopping centre in which seven people were killed and 12 others injured including a nine-month-old girl. "When I tell the story, it's like it was yesterday," he tells AAP. Mr Mohana went to work at Hair Royale salon in the Westfield complex on April 13, 2024 thinking it was an ordinary day. However, he was forever changed by the fear of uncertainty and then sheer violence that unfolded as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi stalked through the floors of the centre with a 30-centimetre knife. Not knowing what was going on amid the chaos and screams, Mr Mohana turned off the music and lights in his shop, shut the door and told his staff to hide in a back room. "It was horrific, terrifying - honestly it was like a near death experience," he says. "You're just pretty much waiting to die." Dawn Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30 were those killed in the attack. Mr Mohana is one of many now looking for answers from an inquest into the mass stabbing due to begin on Monday. Hearings before Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan at Lidcombe are expected to run for five weeks. She will hear evidence from experts and eyewitnesses examining myriad issues including Cauchi's background, mental health and treatment, and his communication with NSW and Queensland police. The 40-year-old lived a largely transient life until he was shot and killed. He stopped receiving treatment for schizophrenia in early 2020 and moved from Queensland to Sydney's east in December 2023. Ms O'Sullivan will examine how security guards employed at Bondi Junction Westfield and the media both responded as the tragedy unfolded. She will make recommendations, if needed, after the evidence wraps up. Psychiatrist and forensic mental health expert Lee Knight says families of the victim and those there on the day will have experienced untold trauma. "They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he says. "That's really senseless and it's really difficult to make sense of." The psychological effects went well beyond those who were there, Mr Knight says, and could also impact those with panic disorders or anxiety who were already afraid of going out in public. He welcomes the inquest, saying it is important to find out what potentially went wrong to prevent similar tragedies in future. In reporting on events like this, the media has to take steps to remain sensitive to victims and their families while not stigmatising mental illness, Mr Knight says. The hope is that the inquest's findings will help an under-resourced mental health industry prevent people like Cauchi falling through the cracks, he adds. The media's reporting has already been thrown into the spotlight, with Ms Singleton's fiance Ashley Wildey suing Channel Nine in the NSW Supreme Court. He claims Nine's 60 Minutes program and sister outlet the Sydney Morning Herald breached copyright with images of the 25-year-old. In court earlier this month, Wildey's barrister Sue Chysanthou SC called the situation "extremely distressing". The mass killing also amplified wider safety concerns for those working in the security industry, according to Nicholas Richard of the United Workers Union. He hopes the inquest will scrutinise how sub-contracting impacted the safety of security guards, the level of training supplied and whether guards were taught how to properly use protective equipment on the job. "Clients and companies in the security industry need to understand the issues facing security workers and make fundamental changes to keep workers and the public safer," he says. Ahead of the anniversary, a memorial was established at Bondi Junction with displays of photographs and messages on floral tributes laid after the mass homicide.
Perth Now
26-04-2025
- Perth Now
Coroner's impossible job to make sense of mass stabbing
A year on, Bill Mohana is still haunted. "It never leaves you," he recalls of his witnessing the aftermath of the stabbing spree at Sydney's Bondi Junction shopping centre in which seven people were killed and 12 others injured including a nine-month-old girl. "When I tell the story, it's like it was yesterday," he tells AAP. Mr Mohana went to work at Hair Royale salon in the Westfield complex on April 13, 2024 thinking it was an ordinary day. However, he was forever changed by the fear of uncertainty and then sheer violence that unfolded as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi stalked through the floors of the centre with a 30-centimetre knife. Not knowing what was going on amid the chaos and screams, Mr Mohana turned off the music and lights in his shop, shut the door and told his staff to hide in a back room. "It was horrific, terrifying - honestly it was like a near death experience," he says. "You're just pretty much waiting to die." Dawn Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30 were those killed in the attack. Mr Mohana is one of many now looking for answers from an inquest into the mass stabbing due to begin on Monday. Hearings before Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan at Lidcombe are expected to run for five weeks. She will hear evidence from experts and eyewitnesses examining myriad issues including Cauchi's background, mental health and treatment, and his communication with NSW and Queensland police. The 40-year-old lived a largely transient life until he was shot and killed. He stopped receiving treatment for schizophrenia in early 2020 and moved from Queensland to Sydney's east in December 2023. Ms O'Sullivan will examine how security guards employed at Bondi Junction Westfield and the media both responded as the tragedy unfolded. She will make recommendations, if needed, after the evidence wraps up. Psychiatrist and forensic mental health expert Lee Knight says families of the victim and those there on the day will have experienced untold trauma. "They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he says. "That's really senseless and it's really difficult to make sense of." The psychological effects went well beyond those who were there, Mr Knight says, and could also impact those with panic disorders or anxiety who were already afraid of going out in public. He welcomes the inquest, saying it is important to find out what potentially went wrong to prevent similar tragedies in future. In reporting on events like this, the media has to take steps to remain sensitive to victims and their families while not stigmatising mental illness, Mr Knight says. The hope is that the inquest's findings will help an under-resourced mental health industry prevent people like Cauchi falling through the cracks, he adds. The media's reporting has already been thrown into the spotlight, with Ms Singleton's fiance Ashley Wildey suing Channel Nine in the NSW Supreme Court. He claims Nine's 60 Minutes program and sister outlet the Sydney Morning Herald breached copyright with images of the 25-year-old. In court earlier this month, Wildey's barrister Sue Chysanthou SC called the situation "extremely distressing". The mass killing also amplified wider safety concerns for those working in the security industry, according to Nicholas Richard of the United Workers Union. He hopes the inquest will scrutinise how sub-contracting impacted the safety of security guards, the level of training supplied and whether guards were taught how to properly use protective equipment on the job. "Clients and companies in the security industry need to understand the issues facing security workers and make fundamental changes to keep workers and the public safer," he says. Ahead of the anniversary, a memorial was established at Bondi Junction with displays of photographs and messages on floral tributes laid after the mass homicide.
