A lawsuit against President Donald Trump could be settled soon by CBS News’ parent company.
However, according to Fox News, the executive producer of CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, who filed the lawsuit against Trump, continues to remain defiant.
“There have been reports in the media about a settlement and/or apology. The company knows I will not apologize for anything we have done.” Owens reportedly said to staff during a meeting on Monday, according to The New York Times.
The Federal Communications Commission has ordered CBS News to handover the transcript of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview during the 2024 presidential campaign, and interview that is at the heart of the lawsuit after Trump accused the network of bias and editing the interview to make Harris look good to voters.
“The edit is perfectly fine; let’s put that to bed so we can get on with our lives,” Owens reportedly said about the transcript, per the NYT.
During a short clip of Harris’ interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker, Harris was asked about the frosty relationship between Israeli Prime Minister and the Biden administration, to which she replied with a “word salad.”
“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 told Whitaker.
However, once the interview was aired in its entirety, the answer given by Harris differed from what had been advertised.
“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 full interview.
Trump accused the network of selectively editing the interview to “shield” Harris from further criticism and demanded a transcript of the entire interview be released and launched a $10 billion lawsuit against the news outlet.
“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 said.
The lawsuit further accuses the network of “voter interference,” calling their actions “deceptive” and distorted.
“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,” the lawsuit read.
Fox News further reported that CBS’ parent company Paramount Global and it’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, is reportedly ready to settle the lawsuit.
