House Speaker Pelosi Raised Concerns Over Us Media Merger

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised concerns over a proposed business merger on the heels of her campaign and two Pelosi-affiliated political action committees raking in hundreds of thousands in donations from a businessman who wants the deal quashed, records show. 

Pelosi’s campaign, as well as her leadership PAC and joint fundraising committee, took over $271,000 combined between October and December 2021 from Byron Allen, the owner of several cable TV networks who is aiming to buy the broadcasting company Tegna, which is selling its 64 local TVstations. Allen raised $10 billion for his Tegna bid to compete with the investment firms Apollo Global Management and Standard General, Reuters reported in November 2021.

Related:Pelosi Raises Concerns About $5.4B Tegna Acquisition

Standard General cut a $5.6 billion deal with Tegna in February to purchase the company. But earlier this month, on Oct. 6, Pelosi and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) raised “serious concerns” that the deal could restrict “local news coverage,” cut jobs, and raise consumer prices in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission — the agency that must approve the merger.