Aaron Ford’s Role in Paramount Blockade Raises Netflix Influence Questions

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s decision to join a 12-state coalition suing to block Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery looked, at first glance, like a routine antitrust action. Closer examination of the players, funding, and beneficiaries suggests Ford may be advancing the interests of Netflix—a major Paramount competitor—and the network of Democratic donors and allies connected to it.

As The Daily Wire detailed this week, Netflix stands as the clearest winner if the merger is stopped. Paramount has accused the streaming giant of running a “scorched-earth” campaign against the deal after losing its own bid for Warner Bros. assets earlier this year. Netflix is a lead sponsor of the Attorney General Alliance (AGA), the nonprofit that has underwritten travel and activities for 11 of the 12 attorneys general in the Paramount lawsuit, including Ford.

Ford has accepted substantial AGA-funded travel. In 2024 alone he logged trips to 16 cities, including stays at a luxury Mexican resort and Martha’s Vineyard, part of roughly $140,000 in group-sponsored lodging and travel. 

An ethics complaint against him alleges he accepted these luxury international trips from an organization funded by corporations he is supposed to regulate. A review panel found sufficient evidence to proceed. 

A top aide to another attorney general who traveled with Ford on an AGA-funded trip to Qatar described the group as having turned itself into a “laundromat” for corporate and foreign interests seeking influence without disclosure. Adding to the appearance of alignment, one of Ford’s recent donors sits on Netflix’s board. Susan Rice, the former Biden domestic policy adviser who returned to the Netflix board after her White House stint, contributed a total of $2,000 to Ford’s campaign in late June 2026—just weeks before the multistate lawsuit was filed.

The lawsuit itself is being led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office filed the case in federal court in the Golden State and has secured early procedural victories, including a temporary restraining order.

 Bonta has publicly dismissed Paramount’s argument that the merger would strengthen competition against Netflix and other tech platforms as a mere “distraction.” He has insisted the case targets only theatrical distribution and cable licensing, declaring “Netflix is not part of our case.”

Yet Bonta’s own donor network reveals parallel Netflix connections. Patty Quillin, wife of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, gave $1 million to the Smart Justice California Action Fund in 2022, a committee that supported progressive prosecutors including Bonta. Smart Justice later transferred $150,000 to a Bonta campaign committee. Quillin has also made repeated maximum contributions to Bonta and to his wife, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta. 

Republican challenger Michael Gates and California GOP leaders have called the pattern a “favor factory,” arguing Bonta is using taxpayer resources to kneecap a Netflix rival after accepting Netflix-linked money.

Ford and Bonta are longtime collaborators. The two Democratic attorneys general have jointly led multistate actions against the Trump administration and share progressive priorities. Their joint participation in the Paramount suit places both in a position where the primary commercial beneficiary is a company that has sponsored the AGA travel Ford has enjoyed and whose executives and board members have financially supported the political ecosystems around both men.

Federal antitrust officials, after reviewing more than two million documents, concluded the Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction was unlikely to harm competition and could create a stronger streaming alternative to Netflix. Britain’s regulator has cleared the deal. Bonta and Ford’s coalition remains the principal remaining obstacle. 

Paramount has agreed not to close until mid-2027 pending resolution, with trial set for March. Paramount CEO David Ellison has threatened to relocate operations—and thousands of jobs—out of California absent a settlement, a move Bonta dismissed as “blackmail.”

Ford’s office did not respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment; Bonta’s office has maintained the suit rests solely on the facts and the law.

For Nevada voters watching Ford’s gubernatorial ambitions, and for Californians observing Bonta’s aggressive use of the attorney general’s office, the question is straightforward: Is this rigorous antitrust enforcement, or a coordinated effort that aligns with a well-connected Democratic donor network whose corporate champion stands to gain the most if Paramount is blocked? The money, the travel, the board seats, and the timing all point in one direction.