As CBS and President Donald Trump’s ongoing $20 billion legal battle over the editing of an Oct. 7 “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris continues, the network has revealed that it plans to request the president’s personal financials in the event the case moves to the discovery phase.
In a joint proposed scheduling order filed in Texas court on Tuesday, the network said it would also pursue the financials of the Trump 2024 campaign and Trump Media & Technology Group, including Truth Social and the $TRUMP meme cryptocurrency project.
Additionally, CBS’s lawyers anticipate discovery will be needed into whether Trump and Rep. Ronny Jackson purchased goods or services from Paramount Global, whether Jackson agreed to arbitrate claims relating to CBS’s services, what confusion, if any, was created by the “60 Minutes” interview and the actions taken in connection with such confusion — i.e., whether the plaintiffs relied upon any alleged misrepresentation in taking any action or failing to take any action; and the basis for the damages alleged.
Meanwhile, Trump’s team said they would seek internal communications from the network about the interview to determine any “internal biases and prejudices that lead them to distort content intended for consumers,” their coordination with third parties, efforts to “commercialize and profit from their deception” and any “animus against President Trump.” They also would seek information related to the extent of the company’s business operations in Texas and targeting of consumers there with broadcast and digital services.
Trump’s legal team has alleged that the Harris interview was deceptively edited in order to make her look good ahead of the 2024 election. The suit specifically takes aim at Harris’ response to a question on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was listening to the Biden administration, which was different in the final cut than what aired in an earlier promo on “Face the Nation.”
The president argues that the “60 Minutes” interview, which was “commercial speech calculated to drive profits and viewership,” altered or deleted “numerous answers” to “present an altogether different version of Harris to consumers than what she really was.”
“This manipulation of the interview was an act of unlawful competition against President Trump, actionable under the Lanham Act, as he competes directly against Defendants in the digital media content creation space through Truth Social and other media enterprises,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Defendants’ manipulation was also an act of consumer fraud against President Trump and Rep. Jackson, actionable under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as they both acquired Defendants’ broadcast and digital services, and like tens of millions of Americans, were confused and deceived by the manipulated interview.”
CBS has maintained that it did nothing wrong and has said the entire foundation of Trump’s argument is “belied” by the complete transcripts for the interview, which were handed over to the FCC, released publicly and included in Trump’s amended complaint — in which he doubled the damages sought after initially seeking $10 billion. It added that the law is “clear that consumers cannot exercise control over editing decisions by news organizations.”
“In other words, as the Supreme Court has made clear, the action violates the First Amendment by interfering with Defendants’ constitutionally protected
freedom to make such editorial judgments. Nor have Plaintiffs pled the basic elements of either claim,” they said.
CBS’s lawyers also said Trump and Jackson lack standing because they haven’t suffered “any concrete and particularized injury caused by Defendants and redressable by this Court.”
“Even if there were particularized harm, it would be to Trump Media & Technology Group in the case of the Lanham Act claim and to President Trump’s campaign apparatuses in the case of the DTPA claim — not to President Trump individually,” they continued. “Plaintiffs do not allege any injury whatsoever to Rep. Ronny Jackson, who has plainly been added in a vain attempt to create a nexus to the forum (and who in any event agreed to arbitrate this claim).”
The latest court filing confirmed that both parties have been in communication about a possible settlement and would advise the court if they agree to do so. It added that they “continue to consider alternative dispute resolution options.” If the case moves to a jury trial, it will take place for two weeks in August 2026, per the filing.
The legal battle comes as Paramount Global awaits FCC approval of its pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses related to its owned and operated TV stations. The deal is on track to close in the first half of 2025.
The agency has separately launched an investigation into allegations of “news distortion” from a complaint filed by The Center for American Rights, a conservative group that describes itself as a “nonpartisan public interest law firm.” FCC chair Brendan Carr has previously said the complaint would “likely arise” in the agency’s review of the merger.
In addition to making the interview transcripts and footage public, Carr said the agency would also seek comment from the public to weigh in on its investigation. Public comments will be due March 7, with replies due March 24.
