Paramount Global/Skydance merger - Variety: Trump Falsely Claims ‘60 Minutes’ Admitted to ‘Crime’ of Editing Harris Interview in a Way That ‘Cheated and Defrauded the American People’

Story from Variety:

President Trump said his $20 billion lawsuit against Paramount Global and CBS, which alleges “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview last fall with then-VP Kamala Harris, is “a true WINNER.” He claimed that Paramount, CBS and “60 Minutes” admitted to committing “this crime” of editing Harris’ answer to eliminate her “bad and incompetent” response, which he asserted “cheated and defrauded the American People at levels never seen before in the Political Arena.”

In fact, Paramount and CBS have argued that they did nothing wrong in the matter — and have called Trump’s suit “an affront to the First Amendment” that is “without basis in law or fact.” CBS News has maintained that the “60 Minutes” broadcast and promotion of the Harris interview was “not doctored or deceitful.”

Trump’s comments came as the president’s lawyers and Paramount Global‘s legal team were said to be starting mediation Wednesday to determine a potential resolution to the lawsuit. Paramount’s board outlined “acceptable financial terms for a potential settlement with the president” at an April 18 meeting, according to a New York Times report, which did not include details of the dollar amount the company has allegedly settled on.

Trump sued CBS a few days before the November 2024 presidential election, alleging that CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” report violated a Texas consumer protection law by deceptively editing an interview with Harris, and thereby interfered with the presidential election. Earlier this year, the president expanded the lawsuit, alleging an additional claim under the federal Lanham Act and seeking at least $20 billion in damages.

“The case we have against 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount is a true WINNER. They cheated and defrauded the American People at levels never seen before in the Political Arena,” Trump wrote in a post Wednesday morning on Truth Social, his social-media platform. “Kamala Harris, during Early Voting and, immediately before Election Day, was asked a question, and gave an answer, that was so bad and incompetent that it would have cost her many of the Votes that she ended up getting. It was a disastrous answer! 60 Minutes and its corporate parents, in order that this not have a negative impact on her, removed and deleted Kamala’s entire answer, every word of it, and replaced it with a response that she gave later on to an entirely different question. The new answer was not good, but it didn’t show Gross Incompetence like the one that was removed by 60 Minutes. In other words, 60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People, the Federal Elections Commission, and the Federal Communications System [sic].”

In the post, Trump suggested that the New York Times — because it reported that “Legal experts have called the suit baseless and an easy victory for CBS” — could “possibly” be “liable for tortious interference, including in Elections, which we are intently studying.”

“Despite all of the above, and Paramount’s/CBS’/60 Minutes’ admittance to this crime and, with other similar corrupt removals of answers to questions, the Failing New York Times, which is Fake News both in writing and polling, claims that ‘people’ said that the case is baseless,” the president wrote. “They don’t mean that, they just have a non curable case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, possibly to the point where the Times’ interjection makes them liable for tortious interference, including in Elections, which we are intently studying.”

Trump concluded his post by asserting: “The bottom line is that what 60 Minutes and its corporate owners have committed is one of the most egregious illegalities in Broadcast History. Nothing like this, the illegal creation of an answer for a Presidential Candidate, has ever been done before, they have to pay a price for it, and the Times should also be on the hook for their likely unlawful behavior. It is vital to hold these Liars and Fraudsters accountable!”

A Paramount Global rep declined to comment. New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said, “President Trump’s post today follows a long list of legal threats aimed at discouraging or penalizing independent reporting about the administration. The law is clear and protects a strong free press and favors an informed American public. The New York Times will not be deterred by the administration’s intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.”

In March, Paramount moved to dismiss Trump’s suit, filing two motions to dismiss the case (one for lack of jurisdiction and the other on grounds that consumer fraud laws do not govern editorial speech). “If the First Amendment means anything, it means that public officials like Plaintiffs cannot hold news organizations like CBS liable for the simple exercise of editorial judgment,” the Paramount motion said. “Whether Plaintiffs believe the entire unedited Interview should have aired or only edited in a way they approve, they are not entitled under the First Amendment to demand only news that fits their wishes.”

In February, in response to an FCC request, CBS News made public an unedited transcript of the Harris interview on “60 Minutes” (available at this link) and said the materials showed that “consistent with 60 Minutes’ repeated assurances to the public,” the broadcast “was not doctored or deceitful.”

CBS News said the issue concerned one question from the “60 Minutes” interview with Harris: whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “listening to the Biden-Harris Administration.”

“We broadcast a longer portion of the vice president’s answer on Face the Nation and broadcast a shorter excerpt from the same answer on 60 Minutes the next day,” CBS News said in a statement. “Each excerpt reflects the substance of the vice president’s answer. As the full transcript shows, we edited the interview to ensure that as much of the vice president’s answers to 60 Minutes’ many questions were included in our original broadcast while fairly representing those answers. 60 Minutes’ hard-hitting questions of the vice president speak for themselves.”

Trump’s legal action against CBS comes as parent Paramount Global and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone are anxious to close the $8 billion merger with Skydance Media as quickly as possible, after having agreed to terms on the deal in July 2024. The transaction is awaiting FCC approval. Brendan Carr, the agency’s Trump-appointed chairman, has said Trump’s complaint would likely factor into the FCC’s review. In a previous statement, Paramount Global said Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit “is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process. We will abide by the legal process to defend our case.”

The Trump suit and Redstone’s evident desire to close the Skydance deal has caused friction between “60 Minutes” and the corporate parent. Bill Owens, executive producer of “60 Minutes,” unexpectedly announced his resignation last week, citing interference from Paramount Global that has hampered his ability “to make independent decisions based on what was right for ‘60 Minutes,’ right for the audience.” In January, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks, who heads CBS, appointed former CBS News president Susan Zirinsky as an “interim executive editor” at the news division, after controversies that Cheeks said prompted “feedback regarding perceived bias in some CBS News coverage.”