CBS’s 60 Minutes has been ordered to hand over the transcript of an interview with Kamala Harris before the election as Donald Trump sues the network for $10 billion.
CBS News, which is owned by Paramount, confirmed they will hand over the ‘full, unedited transcript and camera feeds’ of Harris’ October interview to the Federal Communications Commission.
A complaint, filed by the Center for American Rights in mid-October accusing 60 Minutes of selectively editing the interview, was initially dismissed on January 16, four days before Trump’s second inauguration.
However, Trump’s newly appointed FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr, reopened the case immediately after taking up the position.
Trump sued CBS News in October in a Texas federal court, allegedly the network purposely edited the interview to put him at a disadvantage in the November 6th presidential election.
The 47th president took particular offense to lengthy Harris’ response to a question regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.
In a preview that aired on Margaret Brennan’s Face the Nation, the candidate was seen giving a so-called ‘word salad’ answer that appeared to be far different to the one which made it to air.
The network defended its action, saying Harris – who is known to give long-winded responses – gave a lengthy answer that had to be cut due to the show’s one-hour time constraint. But the preview and the interview were the ‘same question, same answer,’ just a different portion of it
CBS News has been forced to hand over allegedly edited 60 Minutes footage of Kamala Harris amidst President Donald Trump’s $10billion lawsuit. The news network announced on Friday that it would ‘comply with the inquiry as we are legally compelled to do’
The network defended its action, saying Harris’s long-winded response needed to be cut due to the show’s one-hour time constraint.
This is not an unusual editing technique in TV news and CBS News maintains it is ‘not doctored.’
CBS News further denied the claims in his $10billion suit, saying that the clip showed the ‘same question, same answer’ in both the Face the Nation snippet and the 60 Minutes segment.
It was ‘a different portion of the response,’ 60 Minutes said at the time.
‘When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate, and on point,’ it said.
FCC Commissioner, Anna Gomez, who is a Democrat, criticized her own agency for refiling the inquiry, saying it was ‘clear’ that Trump was attacking coverage that didn’t shine a good light on him.
‘This is a retaliatory move by the government against broadcasters whose content or coverage is perceived to be unfavorable,’ she told The New York Times.
‘It is designed to instill fear in broadcast stations and influence a network’s editorial decisions.’
Trump asks if Harris was on drugs during ‘edited’ 60 Minutes interview
The two-term president took particular offense to lengthy Harris’ response to a question regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East., saying CBS News ‘doctored’ the footage to make him look bad
The complaint – filed by the Center for American Rights in October – was originally dismissed on January 16 – four days before Trump’s second inauguration. However, Trump’s newly appointed FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr, reopened the case after the Republican took office
FCC Commissioner, Anna Gomez criticized the agency, saying it was ‘clear’ that Trump was attacking coverage that didn’t do well for him. ‘This is a retaliatory move by the government against broadcasters whose content or coverage is perceived to be unfavorable,’ she said 1617Comments
However, Shari Redstone, a Paramount shareholder is reportedly keen to settle the lawsuit, sources told The Times.
The network’s journalists, however, wish to go to trial, with sources telling The Times they believe this is an easy win.
During the campaign trail, CBS News also offered Trump a sit-down interview, but the 78-year-old refused, objecting to the network’s plan to fact-check him.
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