CBS under pressure FCC demands CBS provide unedited transcript of Kamala Harris interview FCC probes editing of 60 Minutes interview as CBS considers settling Trump suit. Jon Brodkin Jan 31, 2025 5:22 pm | 95 Main entrance to CBS headquarters in New York City seen in January 2020. Credit: Getty Images | Erik McGregor Main entrance to CBS headquarters in New York City seen in January 2020. Credit: Getty Images | Erik McGregor Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe Federal Communications Commission demanded that CBS provide the unedited transcript of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that is the subject of a complaint to the FCC and a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump.CBS News on Wednesday received a letter of inquiry in which the FCC requested "the full, unedited transcript and camera feeds" of the Harris interview, The New York Times reported today."We are working to comply with that inquiry as we are legally compelled to do," a CBS News spokesperson told media outlets.FCC Chairman Brendan Carr repeatedly echoed Trump's complaints about alleged media bias before the election and has taken steps to punish news broadcasters since Trump promoted him to the chairmanship. Complaints against CBS, ABC, and NBC stations were dismissed under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, but Carr reversed those dismissals in his first week as chair. Carr also ordered investigations into NPR and CBS.FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, criticized what she called Carr's "latest action to weaponize our broadcast licensing authority.""This is a retaliatory move by the government against broadcasters whose content or coverage is perceived to be unfavorable," Gomez said today. "It is designed to instill fear in broadcast stations and influence a network's editorial decisions. The Communications Act clearly prohibits the Commission from censoring broadcasters and the First Amendment protects journalistic decisions against government intimidation. We must respect the rule of law, uphold the Constitution, and safeguard public trust in our oversight of broadcasters."CBS considers settling Trump lawsuitTrump sued CBS over the Harris interview, and executives at CBS owner Paramount Global have held settlement talks with Trump representatives. "A settlement would be an extraordinary concession by a major U.S. media company to a sitting president, especially in a case in which there is no evidence that the network got facts wrong or damaged the plaintiff's reputation," The New York Times wrote.However, the Times also wrote that "many executives at CBS's parent company, Paramount, believe that settling the lawsuit would increase the odds that the Trump administration does not block or delay their planned multibillion-dollar merger with another company." Paramount is seeking FCC approval for TV broadcast station license transfers related to a pending deal with Skydance.The complaint to the FCC regarding the Harris interview was filed by the Center for American Rights against flagship station WCBS-TV. The conservative group alleged that CBS violated the news distortion rule with its editing of the interview, and asked for an FCC order compelling CBS to release the full unedited transcript.CBS has denied the allegations, which relate to different broadcasts of the same interview, one on Face the Nation and one on 60 Minutes. "Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false," CBS said in October. "60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes. Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response."Carr told Fox News in November that he was interested in investigating the complaint against CBS when the FCC reviews the pending deal involving Skydance and Paramount. "I'm pretty confident that news distortion complaint over the CBS 60 Minutes transcript is something that is likely to arise in the context of the FCC's review of that transaction," Carr said at the time.We contacted the FCC and CBS today and will update this article if we get further information or comments.Jon BrodkinSenior IT ReporterJon BrodkinSenior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 95 Comments