Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr says he's putting the investigation into CBS News' broadcast of its interview with Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris during the election on a fast track.
"The FCC has had a prohibition against news distortion on our books for 50 years," Carr, who was appointed by President Donald Trump," told The New York Post Monday. "It applies to broadcasters but not cable. A group brought a non-frivolous complaint, so the FCC is taking the next appropriate step in adjudicating the issue."
The probe has been launched on the complaint made by the Center for American Rights, a conservative group, which argued the network selectively edited its interview with Harris.
Trump sued CBS for $10 billion days before the 2024 election on accusations that its long-running "60 Minutes" deceptively edited the Harris segment by picking out a more coherent quote from the Democrat nominee for the prime-time program to boost her candidacy.
In a preview of the interview airing on CBS News' Sunday morning show, "Face the Nation," before the October interview aired, Harris was shown giving a different answer to a question than the one she was shown giving in the interview as shown on "60 Minutes."
Trump did not sit for an interview for the program, which regularly invites the two presidential contenders for separate interviews airing back-to-back near the election. CBS said Trump initially agreed to the interview before backing out, but a campaign official said he had not agreed to appear.
When Trump sued it, CBS News said that when it edits "any interview, whether a politician, an athlete or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point."
The network turned over the full transcript of the interview to the FCC on Monday.
Carr, meanwhile, has not ruled out hearing testimony from "60 Minutes" and correspondent Bill Whitaker, who conducted the interview.
Bill Owens, the executive producer for the show, told the program's staff Monday that he will not apologize as part of a prospective settlement between Trump and Paramount Global, CBS's parent company, which is pursuing settlement talks with Trump, reports The New York Times.
"There have been reports in the media about a settlement and/or apology," Owens said, according to people who heard his remarks. "The company knows I will not apologize for anything we have done."
However, Paramount executives reportedly believe a settlement would pave the way for the Trump administration to approve its pending $8 billion merger with the entertainment company Skydance. Shari Redstone, Paramount's controlling shareholder, reportedly supports reaching a settlement.
In addition to investigating CBS over the Harris interview, Carr is also reportedly investigating whether the network's overall election coverage was biased against Trump and Republicans.
FCC rules subject networks to equal time provisions when news is broadcast over public airwaves as opposed to cable programs, which don't fall under those guidelines.
This means that if Carr determines that the Harris interview was deceptively edited, he could not only rule in favor of the Center for American Rights but he could stop the Paramount-Skydance deal, which is to close at the end of March.
In addition, Trump can use the evidence Carr finds to use in his lawsuit against CBS News.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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