CBS practices 'news distortion' intended to 'confuse, deceive and mislead the public,' the lawsuit says
CBS airs different parts of Harris answer to same '60 Minutes' question
CBS aired one part of a Kamala Harris answer to a question about Israel from its '60 Minutes' correspondent on Oct. 6, and then aired a shorter, different part of the answer a day later.
EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump is suing CBS News for $10 billion in damages, stating the network practiced "deceptive conduct" for the purpose of election interference in its interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the lawsuit filed Thursday.
Trump attorneys said the complaint comes due to "CBS’ partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public."
Trump attorneys also argued the edits were done in an effort to "attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion."
‘60 MINUTES' UNDER FIRE FOR KAMALA HARRIS EDITING DECISION, HAS HISTORY OF LIBERAL CONTROVERSIES
CBS News has been plagued with controversies in recent days involving a tense interview about Israel on ‘CBS Mornings’ and an edited exchange of its ‘60 Minutes’ interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton; Screenshots/CBS News)
"President Trump brings this action to redress the immense harm caused to him, to his campaign, and to tens of millions of citizens in Texas and across America by CBS’s deceptive broadcasting conduct," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit comes after Trump’s attorneys wrote letters to CBS News demanding the network release the full transcript of the "60 Minutes" interview with Harris after it aired two different answers to the same question. Trump attorneys asked CBS to preserve all documents and communications related to the interview pending a potential legal battle.
CBS News refused to release the full transcript, citing the First Amendment, and rejected the assertion that it had "doctored" the Harris interview to mislead the American people. The network insisted that "the interview was not doctored" and that the program "did not hide any part of the vice president’s answer to the question at issue."
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, Oct. 27, 2024. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The lawsuit filed Thursday specifically references the exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker. In a preview clip that aired on "Face the Nation," Harris was asked why it seemed like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t listening to the U.S.
"Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region," Harris responded in the "Face the Nation" clip.
Harris was mocked by conservatives for offering a lengthy "word salad" to Whitaker. But when that same question aired the following night in the primetime election special, a shorter, more focused answer from the vice president followed.
"We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end," Harris said in the primetime special.
Critics accused CBS News of editing Harris' "word salad" answer to shield the vice president from further backlash, and there have been growing calls for the network to release the full transcript after it only shared transcripts of what had aired.
"To paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news," the lawsuit states.
Trump lawyers argue that news organizations "are responsible for accurately representing the truth of events, not distorting an interview to try and falsely make their preferred candidate appear coherent and decisive, which Kamala most certainly is not."
"Due to CBS’ actions, the public could not distinguish which Kamala they saw in the Interview: the candidate or the actual puppet of a behind-the-scenes editor," the lawsuit states, noting that Whitaker’s question "was of the utmost public significance — U.S. foreign policy on the matter of the Israel/Gaza war — at a time of immense importance, mere weeks before the most critical presidential election in American history."
Trump is demanding a jury trial and at least $10 billion in damages for CBS’ alleged "ongoing false, misleading, and deceptive acts; the attorneys’ fees and costs associated with this action; and such other relief as the court deems just and proper."
CBS News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News' Brian Flood and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
