Donald Trump is suing CBS News for $10 billion, alleging that the network deceptively edited an interview with his rival Kamala Harris to unlawfully influence the 2024 presidential election.
The lawsuit, filed in Texas, accuses CBS of “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to … confuse, deceive, and mislead the public” and “attempt to tip the scales” in favor of the Democratic nominee.
His legal team filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Amarillo, where the case is expected to land in front of a judge he appointed. Any appeal of a decision in the case would go to a Louisiana-based appellate court that is dominated by conservative judges that have routinely sided in Republican-backed legal challenges.
A case from Trump — who lives in Florida, and who is suing a New York-based company incorporated in Delaware — is likely to be handed to conservative District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who Trump nominated to the bench. Judge Kacsmaryk notably reinstated Trump’s so-called “remain in Mexico” program and ruled to strip government approval of a widely used abortion drug. Both decisions were struck down by the Supreme Court.
Trump has demanded a jury trial and wants to be awarded $10 billion in damages.
Thursday’s long-shot claims, filed just six days before Election Day, follow his obsessive attacks baselessly alleging that the network committed a crime and doctored her responses. He also has repeatedly threatened to revoke CBS’s broadcast license, along with other television networks that have aired critical coverage of his administration and campaign.
He has previously launched unsuccessful lawsuits against CNN and The New York Times. A judge this year determined that the former president owes the newspaper and three reporters nearly $400,000 for their legal fees after his failed lawsuit against them.
Trump also backed out of a chance to appear on 60 Minutes himself. Anchor Scott Pelley told viewers during the Harris broadcast that Trump’s campaign “complained that we would fact-check the interview.”
“We fact-check every story,” Pelley said.
The network has since refuted Trump’s “false” accusations, and an attorney for the network said there is “no legal basis” for a legal challenge after a legal threat from Trump’s team to turn over unedited transcripts.
This is a developing story
