CBS News has been forced to hand over allegedly edited 60 Minutes footage of their interview with Kamala Harris amid President Donald Trump’s $10billion lawsuit.
The news network – which is owned by Paramount – announced on Friday that it would ‘comply with the inquiry as we are legally compelled to do,’ a statement said.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) demanded the ‘full, unedited transcript and camera feeds’ of Kamala Harris’ October 60 Minutes.
The complaint – filed by the Center for American Rights in mid-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.
Trump also sued CBS News in October in a Texas federal court, allegedly the liberal network purposely edited the interview to put him at a disadvantage.
The two-term 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 one answer – one seemingly different than the one that aired.
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 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 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.
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.’
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
Experts agreed, telling The Times that it was Trump’s way of trying to punish a news outlet, and it’s not the first time the Republican has attacked the media.
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.
