Oregon's attorney general has asked a court to delay the closing of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger by 60 days while it continues investigating whether the deal breaches antitrust law. The move matters because it could hold up one of the largest media consolidations in recent memory, even after federal regulators cleared it, and because the state has openly questioned the integrity of that federal approval.

Although the US Department of Justice blessed the merger last month — issuing an unusual statement claiming the deal would boost competition and benefit consumers and workers — a coalition of states including California and New York is still scrutinising it. Oregon A.G. Dan Rayfield has demanded records of Paramount Skydance's lobbying of the White House and DOJ, suggesting in a filing the approval may have been "the product of a corrupt bargain." Paramount has objected to the subpoenas, calling the lobbying irrelevant, and has said it will not close before 22 July. Judge Eric Dahlin of Multnomah County Superior Court will hear the motion on Monday.