Both the Federal Communications Commission and CBS News publicly released the transcript and raw video of last October’s 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which is at the center of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the network.
The Trump-appointed chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, had requested the materials after a “news distortion” complaint was filed against the network. Carr said the complaint could be a factor in his agency’s review of the merger between the network’s parent company Paramount Global and Skydance Media, prompting Paramount executives to pursue a potential settlement with Trump’s legal team.
“We are posting the same transcripts and videos of our interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that we provided to the FCC,” CBS News said in a statement after releasing them. “They show – consistent with 60 Minutes‘ repeated assurances to the public – that the 60 Minutes broadcast was not doctored or deceitful.”
The network added: “In reporting the news, journalists regularly edit interviews – for time, space or clarity. In making these edits, 60 Minutes is always guided by the truth and what we believe will be most informative to the viewing public – all while working within the constraints of broadcast television.”
At issue in Trump’s lawsuit – which legal experts have called “frivolous and dangerous” and CBS News has claimed is “completely without merit” – is a question about Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that was asked by correspondent Bill Whitaker. A different and longer version of Harris’ answer was aired during a preview on Face the Nation than during the 60 Minutes broadcast the following day, leading Trump to allege the network had deceptively edited the interview to interfere with the presidential election.
“Each excerpt reflects the substance of the vice president’s answer,” CBS News said.
“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,” the network emphasized. “60 Minutes’ hard-hitting questions of the vice president speak for themselves.”
In a statement posted to X, Carr said that “given the value of transparency & the public interest here,” the FCC was also publicly releasing the materials and “establishing a docket and seeking comment on the issues raised in the complaint,” adding that “the people will have a chance to weigh in.”
The prospect of reaching a settlement with Trump, which Paramount Chairwoman Shari Redstone has reportedly “made up her mind” to do, has left CBS News staffers increasingly alarmed as it will appear that the network is capitulating to the president – especially as other media outlets have settled legal actions with Trump following the election.
“Trump’s lawsuit was a joke, but if we settle, we become the laughingstock,” a correspondent told CNN, while another CBS staffer told The Independent that “no one is happy” and employees want CBS News leaders to fight any possible settlement.
Meanwhile, 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens told staffers on Monday that he will not apologize as part of any possible Trump settlement, adding that the decision is out of his hands while urging journalists to continue to produce hard-hitting reporting.
Owens and CBS News chief Wendy McMahon have also made it “crystal clear” that they strongly oppose the company settling with the president.
