Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.’s tough path to approval for buying Tribune Media Co. grew even more difficult after regulators slammed the proposal as dishonest and potentially illegal in unusually harsh language.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday called for sending the $3.9 billion deal to a hearing. The proposed order is said to mention possible misrepresentations or lack of candor regarding Sinclair’s proposed sale of WGN-TV to a car dealer who is a business associate of a top Sinclair executive.More at Bloomberg