The Center for American Rights accused CBS News of "significant and intentional news distortion" regarding the network's editing of its Vice President Kamala Harris interview on 60 Minutes .
“This isn’t just about one interview or one network,” CAR President Daniel Suhr said after the complaint was filed with the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday. “This is about the public’s trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time. When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act swiftly to restore public confidence in our news media.”
The announcement from the legal watchdog group marks its response to revelations that CBS edited portions of its recent 60 Minutes interview with Harris. CBS aired two different versions of Harris answering a question about whether the U.S. has failed to influence Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's actions in the war in Gaza.
In the 60 Minutes interview aired on Oct. 7, Harris said, “We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
But in a teaser clip of Harris answering the same question prior to the full interview’s release, the vice president offered a significantly different response that many conservatives derided as a “word salad.”
"Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region," she told CBS host Bill Whitaker.
CAR said the network's edits violated "long-standing FCC precedent that broadcasters cannot engage in intentional falsification or suppression of news." It is seeking an order compelling WCBS-TV (CBS News's New York City station) to release the full unedited transcript of the interview.
CBS has faced widespread condemnation from Republicans for its decision to air the edited version of the question on Netanyahu. Former President Donald Trump denounced the edits as “election interference” designed to make Harris "look better," and he has also called on the network to release the unedited version of the interview in full.
Responding to CAR’s move to file a complaint against CBS on Thursday, Trump reiterated his belief that the network should lose its broadcasting license.
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“This whole sordid and fraudulent event is a threat to democracy!” he said in a post to Truth Social.
CAR, which is right-leaning, describes itself as a "public interest law firm dedicated to protecting Americans’ most fundamental, constitutional rights."
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