David Ellison settled the last lawsuit standing between him and CNN on Monday. Twelve Democratic state attorneys general, led by California's Rob Bonta, had sued to block his purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. The Writers Guild of America sued alongside them. Bonta announced one settlement Monday that ended both.
Bonta walked away and said what he thought of it. "The settlement is not a vote of support for this merger," he told reporters. He still does not think the two companies should merge. He settled anyway, calling the terms a "strong solution that protects competition and consumers."
Ellison read the day differently. "Having now addressed the State AGs' and WGA's concerns, we have complete clearance for this merger," he said, pointing at competition regulators in nearly 70 countries who had already waved the deal through.
He does not have complete clearance. A judge still has to sign.
And the government whose blessing the deal needs spent the weekend locking CNN out of the building. On Saturday the White House revoked the press credentials of CNN, MS NOW and Politico. All three sued the administration on Monday, the same day Bonta cleared the road to CNN's next owner.
What Bonta and his colleagues made Ellison sign says they saw that coming.
