House Democrats Investigate CBS News' Editing of Trump Interview on '60 Minutes'

House Representative Investigates CBS News' Editing of Trump's '60 Minutes' Interview

On Wednesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top-ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, addressed a letter to CBS News, accusing former President Donald Trump of exerting "improper influence" over the editing of his November interview with the show 60 Minutes. Raskins letter, directed at CBSs ombudsman Kenneth R. Weinstein, called for an investigation into what he described as a stunning intrusion on editorial independence after the network aired a heavily edited version of the interview.

The portion of the interview that aired on TV was only 28 minutes long, compared to the 73-minute extended version uploaded to YouTube. Trumps interview with correspondent Norah O'Donnell had originally lasted 90 minutes. According to Raskin, the edited broadcast represented an attempt by Trump to impose control over CBSs editorial processes.

Raskin criticized Trump for what he referred to as "governmental power" being used to establish editorial control and censorship at CBS News. He expressed concerns that Trumps baseless claims of bias against him at CBS had led to the establishment of a public censorship system to shape the network's coverage. In his statement, Raskin compared Trumps actions to the way President Putin controls media in Russia.

CBS News and its parent company, Paramount, did not respond to immediate requests for comment. Raskin voiced further concerns that Trump was directly interfering with CBS's editorial choices, thus damaging the network's journalistic integrity while violating its independence from government coercion.

The letter also referenced a prior dispute between Trump and CBS over the networks editing of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020. CBS had been sued by Trump for $20 billion, with the network ultimately settling for $16 million as part of a deal involving federal approval for its merger with Skydance. As part of this deal, CBS had promised to release full transcripts of interviews with presidential candidates or sitting presidents, and Weinstein was appointed as ombudsman.

Raskins letter concluded by urging Weinstein to take immediate action and conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the alleged interference in CBS News editorial decisions, with a call to protect the network's journalistic standards and independence.

More updates are expected.

Author: Chloe Ramirez