President Donald Trump has amended his lawsuit against CBS after the Federal Communications Commission released the full unedited interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The lawsuit filed by President Trump and Rep. Ronny Jackson claims that CBS engaged in deceptive advertising and manipulation of its content, which adversely affected President Trump and his social media platform Truth Social.
The motion filed by President Trump's attorneys late Friday claims that CBS and its parent company Paramount compete in the same digital media landscape and manipulated "the nature, characteristics, and qualities of their broadcast and digital services; deceived consumers, including plaintiffs, through advertisement and commercial promotion of substantially distorted broadcast and digital media content masquerading as news."
President Trump's attorneys say that this alleged manipulation led to unfair market practices against him and Truth Social.
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The lawsuit, which was filed in the Northern District of Texas, seeks damages of at least $10 billion and for CBS to pay punitive damages.
Earlier this week, the FCC released the full interview CBS had conducted with Harris after the network handed over the footage to the FCC. CBS came under attack by the Trump campaign for its editing practices, which the network said it clipped to fit "the constraints of broadcast television."
"In reporting the news, journalists regularly edit interviews – for time, space , or clarity," CBS News said. "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."
The clip involved Harris being asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was listening to the Biden-Harris administration. CBS News aired a longer version of the interview earlier in the day during its "Face the Nation" program. An excerpted response to the question aired that night on 60 Minutes.
"Each excerpt reflects the substance of the vice president's answer. 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," CBS News said. "60 Minutes' hard-hitting questions of the vice president speak for themselves."
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The interview has created tension within the FCC, as the new chair of the commission, Brendan Carr, has sought public comment through the commission on the interview.
"The FCC has concluded that establishing a docket and seeking comment on the issues raised in the complaint would serve the public interest," he said.
But Commissioner Anna M. Gomez claimed that Carr was weaponizing the FCC, claiming the FCC's actions were retaliatory.
"During these last two weeks, the FCC has shown a concerning pattern of implementing the will of the Administration on issues that go far beyond our core responsibilities," she said. "These actions disregard long-standing norms and ignore the mandate granted by Congress to the FCC to act as an independent agency. They also set a dangerous precedent that threatens to undermine trust in the agency’s role as an impartial regulator."
