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CBS has filed a motion to dismiss President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview last year, calling the suit an “affront to the First Amendment without basis in law or fact.”
The president had previously claimed the outlet edited the interview in such a way as to attempt to make him look bad to voters, allegedly contributing to “voter interference.” He filed the lawsuit in October, months before taking office, prompting CBS to publicly release the unedited video of Harris last month in a bid to demonstrate there was nothing unusual or manipulative in the editing.
All broadcast interviews are edited, if only for length to fit the format of a program. The suit by Trump is unusual in that it appears to aim at control of editing decisions made by news organizations.
Trump filed suit in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas, stating the outlet’s actions violated the Texas Deceptive Practices Trade Act, a law that regulates commercial business practices.
CBS responded Thursday, stating the suit lacked the proper venue as well as personal and subject-matter jurisdiction.
“Plaintiffs President Donald J. Trump and Representative Ronny Jackson, public officials at the highest ranks of our government, seek to punish a news organization for constitutionally protected editorial judgments they do not like,” CBS attorneys wrote in court documents. “This lawsuit is an affront to the First Amendment and is without basis in law or fact.”
They “not only ask for $20 billion in damages but also seek an order directing how a news organization may exercise its editorial judgment in the future,” the filing added. “The First Amendment stands resolutely against these demands.”
If the case is not dismissed, attorneys also asked for the lawsuit to be transferred to the Southern District of New York, where the headquarters of CBS News is located.
In a statement to Axios, Trump attorney Ed Paltzik said that the president is “committed to holding those who traffic in fake news, hoaxes and lies to account. CBS and Paramount committed the worst kind of election interference and fraud in the closing days of the most important presidential election in history. President Trump will pursue this vital matter to its just and rightful conclusion.”
Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump, is investigating the matter.
The network’s stinging attack was a surprise. CBS has been considering settling the suit to avoid further delaying a merger with Skydance Media in an $8 billion deal, which regulators in the Trump administration need to approve.
First Amendment experts have voiced concerns over the case, stating the network’s defense is solid as news editors have wide discretion as to what they can choose to air, with the only parameter being that the information must not be distorted. Editing is commonplace across news organizations.
Network leaders had invited Trump to participate in his own 60 Minutes interview prior to the election but he refused. He did sit down with the program in 2020.
