Paramount Global holds its annual shareholder meeting as Shari Redstone decides its fate, G/O Media sells Gizmodo, The Daily Beast names a new top editor, MAGA Media hypes GOP's dishonest grilling of Merrick Garland, A.I. developers at OpenAI and Google sound the alarm, Warner Bros. Discovery brass attend "House of the Dragon" premiere, Disney's new "Star Wars" series is lauded by the critics, and more. But first, the A1.

The Epoch Scheme

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One of Donald Trump's biggest media boosters is in serious legal jeopardy.

In an astonishing indictment made public this week, the Department of Justice accused The Epoch Times of having "benefited" from a multinational $67 million money laundering scheme staged by its chief financial officer, Weidong Guan.

Guan, according to the indictment, led efforts at the conspiratorial right-wing media outlet to "knowingly purchase tens of millions of dollars in crime proceeds" and then move the money into bank accounts belonging to The Epoch Times. Guan and his unnamed alleged co-conspirators at the company moved the money via "tens of thousands of layered transactions" that exploited stolen identities and prepaid debit cards, the Justice Department explained.

The sophisticated scheme boosted revenue flowing into the coffers of The Epoch Times, the Justice Department said. In one year, revenue at the Trump-boosting outlet ballooned 410%, jumping from $15 million to about $62 million, the Justice Department added.

While The Epoch Times receives little media attention in comparison to other pro-Trump outlets, such as Fox News, its reach and support for the disgraced former president and his MAGA movement cannot be overstated. The New York Times referred to it as "one of the country’s most powerful digital publishers" and The Atlantic flatly called it a "pro-Trump propaganda machine." 

For years, the fledgling nonprofit publication was merely a niche, hardcopy newspaper that advanced the Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in China. But shortly after the 2016 election, it underwent a significant digital transformation, which was fueled by a firehose of traffic from Facebook. The outlet also purchased millions of dollars in advertisements on the Mark Zuckerberg-owned platform, catapulting The Epoch Times from merely being handed out on city street corners into the feeds of millions of Americans from coast to coast. 

The outlet blanketed Facebook with algorithmically supercharged pro-Trump and conspiratorial content, often sending its stories viral and rocketing to the top of publishing charts, surpassing more established legacy news operations. Ultimately, Facebook banned the outlet from purchasing advertisements in 2019 after NBC News reported on its "effort to obfuscate its connection to some $2 million worth of ads that promoted [Trump] and conspiracy theories about his political enemies."

On its website, The Epoch Times claims to be "grounded in ethical journalism" and employ reporters "guided by the highest code of conduct and ethics in their reporting" — a narrative punctured by the Justice Department's indictment.

In a short statement, which notably was delivered into my inbox from an unnamed spokesperson via a generic "media inquires" email address, The Epoch Times said it will cooperate with federal authorities. The company added that Guan is "innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," but that it had "suspended him until this matter is resolved."

Suffice to say, that statement does not answer much. For one, the indictment from the Justice Department indicated that an entire "Make Money Online" team at The Epoch Times — not just Guan — was involved in the alleged conspiracy. And it strongly suggested that senior leaders at the organization should have been aware of the wrongdoing, given that a number of people and institutions had contacted The Epoch Times about the suspicious activity.

But, when we asked for further comment on Tuesday, The Epoch Times brass chose to stay mum. John Tang, the chief executive, and Jasper Fakkert, the editor-in-chief, did not respond to multiple emails seeking basic information.

Have any of the outlet's assets been frozen as part of the probe? The indictment said there was an entire group at The Epoch Times that took part in the alleged money laundering scheme. Have they also been suspended? Notably, Tang and Fakkert declined to answer questions about whether they were aware of the alleged scheme. But if they were not, are they conducting their own probe into the matter? They won't say.

It's also unclear how companies that do business with The Epoch Times will respond. Outfront Media, which sells billboard space across the country, did not respond to inquires about whether it will continue its relationship with the embattled outlet. And PayPal, which facilitates online donations to the organization, declined to comment.  

When asked on Tuesday whether further charges could be brought in the case given the sprawling nature of the alleged scheme, a Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. But one wonders whether other leaders at the organization — or the non-profit itself — could soon face legal trouble.

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The Redstone Riddle: All eyes are still locked on Shari Redstone as the fate of her media empire remains in the balance. Paramount Global held its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday as speculation swirled over whether Redstone will accept the offer on the table from David Ellison's Skydance, a deal that would end her family's control over the mountain of entertainment. Without a decision from Redstone, Paramount Global's triumvirate of leaders who make up the "Office of the CEO" — Brian Robbins, Chris McCarthy, and George Cheeks — delivered their vision for the future at the shareholder meeting. That plan included exploring joint streaming ventures, finding synergy in the org (i.e. cost cuts), and divesting assets to improve the balance sheet. "Our plan looks forward by building back the best of Paramount, delivering higher revenue with lower costs, which translates to higher earnings and better returns," Robbins said. The Wrap's Lucas Manfredi has more.

► Meanwhile, Paramount's leadership has delayed a planned all-staff meeting, originally scheduled for Wednesday. "Given the ongoing speculation regarding potential M&A, we want to be able to speak to you with as much candor and transparency as possible," Robbins, Cheeks, and McCarthy wrote in a memo to employees. "By moving the date, our hope is to do just that."

►And Shares in Paramount Global closed down 4% Tuesday as The Street begins to worry Redstone won't green light the Ellison deal.

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Gizmodo Gutted From G/O: Not much remains of G/O Media, which once boasted a number of high-octane digital news websites as part of its sprawling portfolio. On Tuesday, the company's portfolio got even smaller. G/O Media announced that it had sold Gizmodo to European media company Keleops Media. Financial details of the transaction were not made public, but G/O Media boss Jim Spanfeller told The NYT's Katie Robertson that the sale represented a "substantial premium from our original purchase price for the site." The offloading of Gizmodo follows the sale of The Onion and Jezebel in recent months. Robertson has more here.

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Merrick's MAGA Media Melee: Attorney General Merrick Garland appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday, blasting the "unprecedented" attacks Donald Trump and his allies have leveled against the Justice Department. Garland said the "conspiracy theory" that the Biden Administration is conducting "lawfare" against the now convicted former president is a "baseless and extremely dangerous falsehood." And he vowed not to let the attacks "influence our decision making." But while Garland poured cold water on the bogus MAGA Media-propelled narrative that the DOJ is nefariously targeting Trump, a totally different set of headlines made their way to audiences locked in the right-wing media universe. Places like Fox News and The Gateway Pundit hyped contentious showdowns in which Republicans, such as Matt Gaetz, used their time questioning the attorney general to sow more conspiracy theories and launch additional attacks on the judicial system.

🔎 Zooming in: The affair was yet another reminder that there is no way to win with MAGA Media. Regardless of what transpires on Planet Earth, the dishonest personalities and outlets that comprise the space will always find a way to twist the narrative in Trump's favor.

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'Reckless' A.I. Race: A cadre of former and current OpenAI and Google employees published an open letter Tuesday warning that the rapidly advancing technology poses "serious risks," including the "loss of control of autonomous A.I. systems potentially resulting in human extinction."   But the group said that their confidentially agreements "block" them from publicly voicing concerns about A.I. They noted that the companies developing the technology "have strong financial incentives to avoid effective oversight" and "only weak obligations to share some of this information with governments." The group warned that "ordinary whistleblower protections" are insufficient for employees to be able to sound the alarm because "they focus on illegal activity, whereas many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated." They listed several calls to action, including asking A.I. companies not to enforce confidentiality agreements that bar "risk-related concerns." CNBC's Hayden Field has more here.

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House of WBD: The top executives of Warner Bros. Discovery turned out Monday night for the season two premiere of "House of the Dragon," a nod to the HBO series' importance in the Max portfolio. In addition to the show's stars and other invited actors, chief executive David Zaslav and Gunnar Wiedenfels were in attendance, mingling with the creative community and reporters, including yours truly. Their attendance even prompted a joke from HBO boss Casey Bloys, who opened the premiere pointing to the fact that top brass from WBD, CNN's parent company, were sitting in the audience. "I'm guessing that they've had a couple conversations saying, 'Where's all that HBO money go?' My hope is that you see it on screen tonight," Bloys joked, adding that the dragons are indeed "very expensive." The NYT's Nancy Coleman has more here.