Blumenthal's Letter Blitz Signals a Democratic Probe Storm

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) unloaded a pile of letters Thursday, and it reads like a preview reel for what corporate America should expect once Democrats grab the Senate majority in January. Blumenthal is in line to chair the Senate subcommittee on investigations, which means he finally gets subpoena power. For two years, minority Democrats could write letters and not much else. That's about to flip.

The letters went out to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and to the deep-pocketed donors behind Trump's new ballroom, a list that includes Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Meta, Google, Echostar's Charlie Ergen and Ike Perlmutter. Blumenthal says the FCC has repeatedly failed to meaningfully respond to Democratic inquiries into Trump's attacks on the First Amendment, the agency's handling of free speech and press rules, and media consolidation laws, according to Deadline. He gave Carr until Nov. 30 to start producing records or face 'alternative measures' once Democrats hold the gavel.

The ballroom donors got their own deadline: cooperate after Jan. 4, or else. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), soon to chair the House Oversight Committee, has already flagged those donations as a target. An FCC spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Kennedy Center is another name on the list. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), set to chair Senate Judiciary, has been digging into the finances and renovation plans of the Trump-controlled arts institution as an ex officio board member. He's warned that center officials aren't handing over documents either. Meanwhile, Rep. Joyce Beatty's (D-OH) lawsuit against the center is in discovery, with the DOJ fighting to keep White House communications under wraps by claiming executive privilege.

Mergers round out the wish list. Democrats have pounced on testimony from Roger P. Alford, a former top DOJ Antitrust Division official who alleged last December that enforcement had been politicized, according to Deadline. The division denies it, but plenty of deals could get a second look. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, held an unofficial hearing on the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger and criticized the settlement state attorneys general reached, warning he'd watch the deal closely over competition, prices and corruption.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), recovering from a stroke, went further, blasting the merger after Paramount CEO David Ellison hosted a White House dinner and met with CBS News correspondents. 'Ellison and the information oligarchs should enjoy it while they can because when Democrats win power we are going to break these anti-consumer, anti-free speech media conglomerates into pieces,' Murphy wrote on X, per Deadline. Peter Rechter, a Wiley Rein partner and former top Democratic oversight official, said in a memo this week that Democrats will 'use their oversight tools aggressively, beginning with laying the foundation right now during the lame duck period.' The catch: Blumenthal's letters also reached into Trump-connected crypto deals and ICE immigration enforcement, so Democrats will have to pick their battles.