Red States Ask Supreme Court to Let Pro-Trump Billionaire Buy CNN

Iowa and Montana have escalated the battle over the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger to the U.S. Supreme Court, filing a motion on Tuesday, August 25, to block a multi-state antitrust lawsuit.

Led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, the two Republican-led states filed a Motion for Leave to File a Bill of Complaint, targeting California and 11 other Democratic-led states that previously sued to halt the massive media deal.

The high-stakes corporate and political standoff stems from Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (backed by Skydance), which includes CNN, led by pro-Donald Trump billionaire media executive David Ellison and his family.

In July, a coalition of 12 states, led by California AG Rob Bonta, sued to block the merger, alleging it violates the Clayton Act by creating a monopoly over theatrical film distribution and basic cable licensing. A federal judge granted them a temporary restraining order, halting the deal.

Iowa and Montana argue that because federal antitrust regulators (DOJ) and 38 other states cleared the transaction, California’s coalition is effectively imposing a nationwide "veto." They argue this dynamic harms their own local economies, consumers and workers.

According to court filings and statements outlined by Variety and SCOTUSblog, the Republican AGs are leveraging specific legal angles.

The filing characterizes California’s lawsuit as a "politicized enforcement action" designed to exert maximum pain on political adversaries. In a related op-ed, AG Brenna Bird stated, "California is once again trying to be the country's regulator... it doesn't get to decide what Americans can choose to watch or stream.”

They note that if ordinary appeals drag out, the transaction may collapse entirely and assert that because this has become a "controversy between sovereigns" (states suing states), the Supreme Court is the only proper legal forum to resolve it under its constitutional original jurisdiction.

The motion explicitly names the 12 states involved in the initial antitrust block: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

Iowa and Montana have filed an accompanying motion to expedite consideration, requesting a deadline for the defendant states to respond by September 15, with hopes of distributing the case for an October 9 Supreme Court conference.

Legal experts remain highly skeptical that the high court will intervene. Speaking to reporters, Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, characterized the move as a long shot, stating, "The Supreme Court is more likely to declare Donald Trump 'litigator of the year' than it is to block the states from enforcing their own antitrust rules."

A spokesperson for the California AG's office has stated that they are reviewing the filing and will respond appropriately.

“There’s no valid legal basis to do this,” Norm Eisen, an attorney who has helped lead the #BlocktheMerger campaign opposing the Paramount-WBD merger, told Variety. “This new filing by Iowa turns the entire American legal system on its head. That’s why the Supreme Court is going to reject it.”