The court battle between Donald Trump and CBS continues, with the network now hoping to dismiss Trump’s massive lawsuit.
CBS News’ parent company, Paramount, filed two motions in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to dismiss Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Harris before the 2024 election.
One motion called Trump’s lawsuit “an affront to the First Amendment and is without basis in law or fact.” Paramount’s legal team argued Trump wants to “punish a news organization for constitutionally protected editorial judgments they do not like.” They added, “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. The First Amendment stands resolutely against these demands.”
Trump’s lawsuit, filed in late October 2024, accused CBS News of “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference” by deceptively editing Harris’ interview. The lawsuit, originally seeking $10 billion, was amended in February to $20 billion.
Paramount’s second motion asserted that “60 Minutes’” editorial judgments are “non-commercial speech that lies wholly outside the scope” of relevant laws, adding the court “lacks subject-matter jurisdiction.”
CBS News is also under FCC investigation, which followed CBS releasing the full interview transcript. Trump’s legal counsel, Ed Paltzik, stated, “CBS and Paramount committed the worst kind of election interference and fraud,” vowing Trump “will pursue this vital matter to its just and rightful conclusion.”
