California AG Rob Bonta faces ‘political favor’ claims over Netflix-linked $1M trail in Paramount suit
California Attorney General Rob Bonta faced calls Friday from Republican challenger Michael Gates and the California GOP for an investigation into whether political funding connected to Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings' family influenced the 12-state lawsuit Bonta filed in federal court in California to block Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Gates, the Republican nominee for California attorney general, told Fox News Digital the financial relationship warranted an investigation.
"Rob Bonta has turned his taxpayer-funded office into a favor factory for his political bosses and donors. He's pursuing politically-motivated litigation against a competitor for a company that's bankrolled his PAC," Gates said.
"This reeks of corruption, which has been an all-too-common pattern for him, and further shows why he's wholly unfit to serve as our state's top law enforcement officer. This all warrants an investigation into his activities to uncover the full truth about Bonta's conduct," he said.
Campaign-finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Hastings' wife, Patty Quillin, contributed $1 million to Smart Justice California Action Fund on March 16, 2022. Fox News Digital reported in 2022 that the independent committee was working to boost Bonta and other progressive prosecutors.
A subsequent California filing shows Smart Justice contributed $150,000 on May 4, 2022, to a committee called Communities for Justice Supporting Rob Bonta for Attorney General 2022.
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California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin told Fox News Digital the circumstances raised questions about Bonta’s motives.
"This smells like Sacramento at its worst," Rankin said. "Rob Bonta takes Netflix money, then turns around and uses his office to kneecap a Netflix rival. With federal investigations, arrests and guilty pleas already piling up in California’s one-party Democrat rule, is this about consumer protection or another political favor?"
Los Angeles attorney Elizabeth Barcohana, a California GOP delegate and chair of the party’s Subcommittee for Jewish Engagement, pointed Fox News Digital to an X post alleging Bonta’s challenge was intended to benefit Netflix.
"CA AG @AGRobBonta’s lawsuit to block the Paramount-WB merger is a corrupt political favor to Netflix to protect its streaming monopoly," Barcohana said.
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Bonta's press office rejected the allegations in a statement to Fox News Digital, pointing to the office's February announcement that it was examining potential purchases of Warner Bros. by either Netflix or Paramount.
"The lawsuit against Paramount resulted from clear cut antitrust analysis, based on the facts and the law," Bonta's press office said. "In February 2026, our office announced an investigation into the purchase of Warner Bros. by either Netflix or Paramount."
"Following our investigation, we concluded that a lawsuit was necessary to protect competition and consumer choice. Our office's decision to file a lawsuit is always based on the facts, the law, and the protection of Californians."
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The response did not directly address Fox News Digital's questions about possible communications with Netflix, Hastings or Quillin, whether Bonta considered recusal or whether the office disputed the campaign-finance figures.
Bonta's complaint alleged the merger would give the combined company approximately 27% of wide-release theatrical film distribution and basic-cable channel licensing.
The Justice Department reached the opposite conclusion after an eight-month investigation involving more than 2 million documents. Federal antitrust officials determined the transaction was unlikely to harm competition and could create a stronger streaming alternative to Netflix, Amazon and Disney.
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Britain’s competition regulator cleared the acquisition Thursday, leaving Bonta’s state-led litigation as the deal’s principal remaining regulatory obstacle. Paramount agreed not to close until five days after a ruling on the merits of June 2027, with a federal trial scheduled for March.
Fox News Digital reached out to Netflix, Hastings and Assemblymember Mia Bonta for comment but did not immediately receive a response.