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An attorney for CBS News responded to a legal threat from Donald Trump‘s team, writing that there was “no legal basis” for a demand that the network turn over an unedited transcript of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.
Trump has called for CBS to lose its broadcast license, claiming that it “doctored” an interview with Harris because she gave a different answer to a question in a promo for the show than the one that was broadcast. The show issued a statement on Sunday in which it said that one part of Harris’ answer to the question was shown in the promo and the second part was in the broadcast. “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response,” the show stated.
In the letter to Edward Andrew Paltzik of Trump’s legal team, obtained by Deadline, CBS News senior VP Gayle C. Sproul wrote that “60 Minutes did not hide any part of the Vice President’s answer to the question at issue.”
“It begs logic to argue that 60 Minutes hid the first part of the Vice President’s answer to the question,” Sproul wrote. “It did not. The public is aware of that part of her answer because 60 Minutes itself publicly distributed it by providing it to Face the Nation for promotional purposes and posting it on X and other 60 Minutes-branded social media for the same reason.”
Sproul also called the Trump team’s contention that the show was acting nefariously was “unfounded,” rejecting the former president’s claim that it was doctored or that the network had conceded that it had done so.
“Instead, the Interview was edited for time with the aim of allowing the public to hear from the Vice President on as many subjects as possible in a 21-minute interview,” Sproul wrote. “Editing is a necessity for all broadcasters to enable them to present the news in the time available, and that is what 60 Minutes did here, as it does with its other reports.”
The interview ran on a 60 Minutes election special earlier this month. During the hour, Scott Pelley noted that Trump had initially agreed to an interview, a longtime tradition for presidential candidates, but then backed out.
Trump has continuously blasted the network, as he has other media outlets many other times. His call for CBS to lose its broadcast license — even though the FCC issues licenses to stations, not networks — follows similar statements against ABC and NBC. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said that Trump’s comments were “threats against free speech” that are “serious and should not be ignored.”
In the letter, Sproul cited First Amendment case law as protection of editorial judgments.
“For that reason, no private right of action exists here and I note that you do not identify one,” Sproul wrote. “Nor is there any legal basis for your demand that we provide you with the unedited transcript of the Interview, which we decline to do.”
CNN first reported on the CBS News letter.
Sproul ended the letter by noting an anti-SLAPP statute, a state law designed to curb frivolous lawsuits. “We further reserve all claims, privileges and defenses not explicitly stated here, including the right to seek attorneys’ fees or assert counterclaims under any applicable anti-SLAPP statute,” Sproul wrote.
