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Ryan Reynolds
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Michael Popak
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Michael Popak
Monday.com AI agents took over my work and I absolutely love it.
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Brendan Ballou
Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders.
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Michael Popak
Agents handle the daily grind.
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1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Now.
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Michael Popak
I stay in the loop only when it matters. Create your own AI agent in minutes. On Monday.com we got two major developments. They involve Donald Trump's attempts to take over cnn, using his friends, the Ellison family, to do it. It's not About Paramount Skydance trying to take over or merge with Warner Brothers. They're not merging. They're trying to grab all the assets of Warner Brothers and $110 billion merger and all the money going to them. But the real question that's the focus of a new lawsuit filed by Public Integrity Project is whether it is a form of a bribe and and fraud between Ellison family and Donald Trump. At the same time, we've got a breaking news story as another lawsuit filed in California by, by a 12 Democratic attorneys general led by Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California has resulted in a temporary restraining order for the next 14 days being issued by a San Francisco federal judge finding all four factors for an injunction present, especially as it relates to the movie industry. The suit brought by the Attorney General's done focusing on affordability to make sure your streaming service charges the price you pay for premium streaming, for cable, for movie, movies and television doesn't go up astronomically. At the same time, the lawsuit filed by the Public Integrity Project all the way over in Delaware is about fraud and corruption all coming out of the same merger. How can one merger and acquisition support so many illegal things? You'll follow it with my breakdown right here on the Midas Touch Network and Legal af. I'm Michael Popak. All right, let's talk about first the breaking news story. I'll get that out of the way. I've got the five page, sorry, ten page order of Judge Martinez Alguin up in the Northern District of California. Where did this come from? Came from a lawsuit by 12 Democratic attorneys general led by Attorney General Rob Bonta. Let me read to you what the judge focused on. This is on page two of her order which we'll put up on Legal a substack for our paid members. On February 27, 2026, Paramount and Warner Brothers agreed that Paramount would acquire that's the Ellison family Oracle and his son, all of Warner Brothers for $110 billion. The combined entity would control two of the big five film studios, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers Brothers. Fifty basic cable channels leading premium cable television channels from HBO and Showtime, the most watched broadcast network in cbs. Three subscription streaming services, Paramount plus HBO Max and Discovery plus three of the most prolific television production studios as well Paramount, CBS and Warner Brothers. What could go wrong? Well, the judge focused on the movie creation part and said this is going to be an anti competitive concentration of movie making power in one company. And based on on that alone she decided that she was going to find a violation, that it was more Likely than not likelihood of success on the merits that the attorneys general would prove that the Clayton act, an antitrust anti competition law from 1913 section 7, had been violated under that particular law. Once there's a prima facie, once there's a basic case that's made out through the allegations and through the filings by the attorneys general, then the burden shifts to the Department of Justice or in this case, sorry, that the transaction participants, Warner Brothers and Paramount, it shifts to them to prove that they are not anti competitive. And she found that they did not carry their burden. On the shifting back page five of her order, plaintiffs present compelling evidence that the combined firm resulting from the transaction will possess substantial market share in the wide release theatrical distribution market. The movies anticipating 27% market share. So almost 30% of all movies in movie houses are going to be controlled by this combined entity. And she found that alone makes out a violation of the Clayton Act. Now the Clayton act is very interesting because at the time it was created in about 1913, the Department of Justice was in its infancy, it was tiny and they knew that they would never be able to handle all of the anti competitive regulatory work that that was out there. You know, this is a nation where we had the robber barons who ran through these, these trusts, things like the sugar trust and the railroad trust and the newspaper trust and the steel trust, all jacking up prices, right? Working with each other in a anti competitive way. Two members of the same industry jacking up prices for the consumer. So the Clayton act anticipated that there would be other regulators, including states who could sue under the federal law. That's exactly what's happened here when it comes to irreparable harm. They find that, that she found on page seven that because the plaintiff states make a strong showing that the transaction will substantially lessen competition in the movie distribution market, they have the irreparable harm they've already proven. Likelihood of success on the merits, inadequate remedy of law, Money's not going to do it irreparable harm. And then she found that the balance of equities and public interest tips in their favor. She's issued a 14 day injunction tro and then she set a briefing schedule. She wants the preliminary injunction which lasts longer until the end of a case than a temporary restraining order. Starts with an administrative stay, then a temporary restraining order for a defined set of time, then a preliminary injunction. She wants full briefing to be completed by the 30th of July. And she scheduled a hearing on August 3rd in Oakland, California at 3pm and we're will be there. That's what's happened there. Now this should come as no surprise for people that follow Legal af. I just did an interview of Attorney General Rob Bonta about this very filing leading to this temporary restraining order. Here's a clip Paramount, Warner Brothers have been heard for. They say that your lawsuit is misguided. They say that here's, here's a quote from them you can react to. The lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general is in the most generous light. Oh, here we go. Reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws and is wrong about the facts and the law. Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over the years. What do you say to Paramount Warner Brothers UNNAMED SPOKESPERSON I say it's exactly
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Brendan Ballou
what you expect to hear from Paramount Warner Brothers that their spin, their script is on overdrive right now. And it's up is down, black is white. They're saying that the thing that's going to hurt workers is going to help workers. The thing that's going to harm competition is going to help competition. And they couldn't be more wrong. We've set forth our case chapter and verse In a nearly 40 page complaint filed in the Northern District of California. It's clear, it's clean. We've identified three specific marketplaces where this proposed merger violates the century old Clayton act and substantial substantially diminishes competition in those three markets is presumptively an illegal merger for those three markets. And so I think it's, you know, it's black letter law applied to the facts here and easy for, for, you know, their high powered, many attorneys that they've hired to understand.
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Michael Popak
Yeah, you told me coming on there that there's something like six or seven major law firms that have been hired by this, this group to try to defend their right to merge.
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Brendan Ballou
I guess they are very lawyered up. I think seven of the biggest law firms across the country, I guess they needed a lot of firepower to try to defend this proposed merger. But you know, we've shared our clear thinking about why it's unlawful and we think we have a strong case. We also asked them to agree to not close the proposed merger until the court has a chance to opine and decide on the case that we brought before the court. They declined. And so we filed a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction yesterday.
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Michael Popak
And as an update, Attorney General Rob Bonta is joining me again later today on Legal AF for yet another interview to talk about this particular injunction and what it means in business I'm always trying to make smart, informed decisions and get the best for less. But if I'm honest, I haven't looked at my life insurance policy in way too long. Is my coverage enough? Given today's economic uncertainty, am I overpaying? And if my health has changed, am I still getting the right protection? That's exactly why I'm finally taking a look with select quote. For over 40 years, Select Quote has helped more than 2 million Americans find the right life insurance policy for their unique needs. Their licensed agents compare policies from top rated carriers in as little as 15 minutes. Working for you, not the insurance companies. And they do it for free. They can even help many people with pre existing health conditions get the right life insurance for you for less and save more than 50%@SelectQuote.com legal AF save more than 50% on term life insurance@SelectQuote.com legal AF today to get started. That's SelectQuote.com legal AF at the same time I just interviewed Brendan Ballou. Brendan Ballou runs Public Integrity Project. He's the one of the teams that's representing Katie Fang in her case against the Epstein's. He just filed on behalf of a shareholder of Paramount, Skydance against the board of directors he filed a stockholder derivative complaint against in the Chancery Court of Delaware. That's where you go when you're suing Delaware corporations and these companies are all Delaware corporations because they want the benefit of the law, the court system there. And listen to the allegations raised by Brendan Ballou. And this is the distinction between the attorney General suit which is all about anti competitive behavior driving up prices. This one's about fraud and bribery and corruption. Here's what the complaint says on page three. The Ellisons, that's the cronies of Donald Trump who are being rewarded in this kleptocracy, now seek to accomplish an approximately $110 billion merger between Paramount and Warner. And the Ellisons have once again reportedly promised illegal private benefits to President Trump in order to remove federal regulatory barriers to the merger. In particular, the Ellisons have reportedly promised to make sweeping changes to cnn, including firing anchors the president dislikes in exchange for regulatory approval of the merger. Once they acquire Warner Brothers, the Ellisons will also have the opportunity to improperly funnel cash to President Trump by settling litigation he brought against CNN in his personal capacity. Prior to his reelection. The Trump administration approved the Ellison's acquisition of Paramount, including cbs. But promising and delivering private benefits in exchange for public actions violates the law, particularly the criminal law. 18. United States Code 201, Prohibiting Bribery of Public Officials. 18 U.S.C. section 208, Prohibiting Public Officials from engaging in acts affecting their personal financial interests. Crimes committed by Donald Trump as alleged in this Delaware case and the discovery in this case. The documents and the depositions are going to be fascinating as to what position Donald Trump and his Department of Justice ultimately take. You know, they're going to try to intervene in this case because this is a suit primarily, ultimately against them. These suits matter. That's why we cover them. And the corruption that they. That they are emblematic of matter. Cory Booker turned on its head. The witness that was supposed to be for Todd Blanche, with new reporting. For instance, that Todd Blanche went to a birthday party that was thrown by Paramount and the Ellison family for Donald Trump. A private dinner Todd Blanche attended. At the same time, his Department of Justice is supposed to be determining whether it should get regulatory approval or not accepting gifts. This is how Cory Booker went after John Ashcroft, formerly the Attorney General, about what he would do in a similar circumstance.
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Senator Cory Booker
Play the clip and not the survivors. I'm at a time, and it's honorable to see Mr. Ashcroft here. Sir, I know you. I know your record. We may have disagreed on policies, but I also know you would never, when you were reviewing a merger, you would never go out to dinner with the parties of that merger. It would be unacceptable for a person that is supervising a matter to attend a social event with those people before your lawyers. It's about ethics. It's about the appearance of impropriety. It's about following the law. This nominee has not followed the ethics laws, has not followed the urgency for avoiding the appearance of improprieties, has broken a bipartisan law passed by Congress, has demeaned and degraded survivors of sexual violence, and has shielded the President by some kind of deal we know nothing about that allowed her now to be transferred to some cushy camp that has never been done before with sex offenders. This man should not be in this office. I cannot believe we're going through this farce when. When his record alone should make him disqualified not for to be the Attorney General, but for even being employed by the federal government. Thank you.
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Michael Popak
And of course, we've got the new reporting that the Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, and his wife also accepted gifts from Paramount. Oh, they just have licensing and regulatory issues before them. Have we ever seen a more corrupt presidency? Department of justice, fcc, Commerce Department, Treasury Department, Pentagon in our lifetime? No. I'll answer the question. It wasn't rhetorical, but we'll continue to shine a bright light on it here on Legal AF and other Midas Touch Network. Until my next report. Take a moment, come over to Legal AF and hit the subscribe button. Voting starts early. We're trying to get to 2 million subscribers before midterms. With your help and generosity, we will. Until my next report, this is Michael Popak.
- [17:53]
Ryan Reynolds
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- [17:58]
Michael Popak
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Ryan Reynolds
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