CBS on Thursday filed two motions to dismiss President Donald Trump’s amended complaint against the network over its editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election campaign.
Paramount Global, CBS Broadcasting Inc., and CBS Interactive Inc., the three defendants in the case, argued that Trump’s lawsuit, which was amended last month, in part, to add Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) as a plaintiff, is “an affront to the First Amendment and is without basis in law or fact.”
Trump and Jackson “seek to punish a news organization for constitutionally protected editorial judgments they do not like,” the defendants said.
“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,” they added. “The First Amendment stands resolutely against these demands.”
Trump’s legal action stems from two different versions the network released for Harris’ answer to a question about Israel during a “60 Minutes” interview broadcast in October.
Trump has accused the network of election interference over what he described as deceptive editing of the show’s sit-down interview with Harris, an assertion that has been repeatedly disputed by CBS.
“The answers that aired on each news show were simply excerpts of a single answer Vice President Harris gave to a single question, and taken together, viewers heard virtually all of Harris’ answer,” the CBS motion said.
CBS has also released the full transcript and camera feeds of its interview with Harris following pressure from Brendan Carr, the new chair of the Federal Communications Commission under Trump.
Trump at first sued the network for $10 billion but recently doubled his demand to $20 billion after CBS originally moved to get the case tossed out. The judge denied that effort since the original suit had been amended.
In a separate motion on Thursday, the defendants repeated their request to get the amended complaint dismissed, citing the lack of personal jurisdiction, noting that “at a minimum” the case should be transferred from Texas to the Southern District of New York.
“None of the Defendants is subject to personal jurisdiction in Texas on these claims,” they said. “CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a New York corporation, CBS Interactive Inc. and Paramount Global are Delaware corporations, and all three have their principal place of business in New York.”
In response to CBS’s motions, Ed Paltzik, an attorney for Trump, told Axios that Trump “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,” Paltzik said. “President Trump will pursue this vital matter to its just and rightful conclusion.”
Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
This comes as Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, the parent company of CBS, has previously told her company’s board that she wants the issue at hand resolved one way or another as Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount is pending approval by the FCC, according to The New York Times. The proposed merger is also the subject on an investor suit, according to Variety.
