Senate Democrats Demand Answers on YouTube Settlement, Investigating Potential ‘Bribe’ to Trump
WASHINGTON D.C. – A groupโ of โSenate Democrats โis demanding to know if YouTubeSโ recent $17.5 million settlement with Donald Trump over a โคdefamation lawsuit โขwas connected to the Justice Department’s ongoing antitrust cases against google, YouTube’s parent company. in aโ letter sentโ today, the senatorsโ allege the settlement raises concerns about potential illegal bribery and undue influence over government proceedings.
The senators point to the timingโ of the settlement and the fact โthat $22 million of the payment is earmarked for the constructionโ of a new White House โคballroom, where Trump is scheduled to โฃhold aโข fundraising โdinner tonight, according to CBS News. They are questioning whether the payment was intendedโ to influence the Trump Justice Department’s decisions regarding appeals in โคexisting antitrustโค cases.
Google isโ currently facing a Department of โขJustice lawsuit seeking to โฃbreak up its ad tech monopoly, withโฃ the government initially โขarguing for a dramatic restructuring. The outcome of that case remains uncertain, โas a settlement with less drastic remedies is stillโค possible. Separately,a judge recently proposed milder remedies than the โขBiden governance sought in a search antitrust suit against Google,leaving the decision on whether to appeal to the incoming Trump administration.
The senators’ letter cites the federal anti-bribery statute and California’s Unfair Competition Law, suggesting YouTube and its executives may have acted illegally if the settlement was designed to avoid stricter antitrust remedies.
YouTube and Google previously responded to an August letter from the senators,โ stating they had “no discussion tying any potential settlementโฃ of the case to any official actionโฃ or to any pending or โคpotential future matters involving Alphabet or any of its โขaffiliates, and there โwill beโ no such discussions.” The lawmakers are now โseeking to โverify the accuracy of that statement.
This settlement โฃis not isolated. trump has previously secured settlements from other companies while they were seeking government approval for mergers or facing other regulatory hurdles, including $16 million from Paramount, and approximatelyโค $10 million from X โand $25 โขmillion fromโค Meta. Senator Elizabethโ Warren previously described the Meta settlement as “looking like a bribe.”