CBS says it will turn over an unedited transcript of its October interview with Kamala Harris to the Federal Communications Commission, part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing fight with the network over how it handled a story about his opponent.
Trump sued CBS for $10 billion over the “60 Minutes” interview, claiming it was deceptively edited to make Harris look good.
Published reports said that CBS’ parent company, Paramount, has been talking to Trump’s lawyers about a settlement.
The network said Friday that it was compelled by Brendan Carr, Trump’s appointee as FCC chairman, to turn over the transcripts and camera feeds of the interview for a parallel investigation by the commission.
“60 Minutes” has resisted releasing transcripts for this and all of its interviews, to avoid second-guessing of its editing process.
The case, particularly a potential settlement, is being closely watched by advocates for press freedom and by journalists within CBS, whose lawyers called Trump’s lawsuit “completely without merit” and promised to vigorously fight it after it was filed.
If Paramount does settle, it will be the latest in a string of high profile settlements Trump has wrangled from old adversaries in recent days. In December, ABC News ponied up $16 million to settle defamation charges brought by Trump against anchor George Stephanopoulos.
On Wednesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump for $25 million. The complaint stemmed from Trump’s suspension from the platform after Jan 6.
The Harris interview initially drew attention because CBS News showed the then-vice president giving completely different responses to a question posed by correspondent Bill Whitaker in clips that were aired on “Face the Nation” on Oct. 6 and the next night on “60 Minutes.”
The question from Whitaker concerned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Whitaker ended by saying to Harris: “But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening?”
In the Oct. 5 version, aired on “Face the Nation,” Harris replies to the question by saying: “Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in several movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”
That clunky response didn’t make it into CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which aired the next day. Instead, that broadcast featured Harris offering a considerably more succinct answer.
“We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” Harris said in that version.
“To paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,” Trump’s suit alleged.
The network said each clip came from a lengthy response by Harris to Whitaker’s question, but they were edited to fit time constraints on both broadcasts.
In his lawsuit, filed in Texas on Nov. 1, Trump charged it was deceptive editing designed to benefit Harris and constituted “partisan and unlawful acts of voter interference.”
Trump, who turned down a request to be interviewed by “60 Minutes” during the campaign, has continued his fight despite winning the election less than a week after the lawsuit was filed.
It’s not the first time 60 Minutes has faced accusations of putting their thumb on the scale against Trump. In October 2020, CBS anchor Lesley Stahl interviewed Trump and dismissed allegations of influence peddling against Hunter Biden, which The Post had reported that same month. The network later corroborated The Post’s reporting and the younger Biden was ultimately convicted of multiple felonies.
The network has not commented on talks about a potential settlement, reported by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
Paramount executives are seeking Trump administration approval of a sale of the company to another entertainment firm, Skydance.
