A CBS News attorney on Wednesday pushed back against former President Donald Trump’s threat of a lawsuit, suggesting to his counsel that he could be liable for attorneys’ fees or subject to counterclaims if he tried to push further the idea that the news magazine “60 Minutes” has doctored the presentation of its recent interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Your letter on behalf of Mr. Trump is based on the incorrect premise that 60 MINUTES is the
interview with Vice President Kamala Harris (“the interview”) to introduce her in a
positive light,” said Gayle Sproul, senior vice president for legal affairs, in a letter to Trump attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik, which was reviewed by Variety.
Trump on Monday threatened to file a lawsuit to force CBS News to release the unedited interview with Harris.
This is part of the interview made available to the CBS News program ‘Face The Nation’, which airs Sunday morning, as a promotional teaser for what would appear later in the week in a special ’60 Minutes’ – broadcast. The promotional segment used a longer portion of Harris’ response than the interview that appeared on “60 Minutes,” which was edited to give viewers a sense of Harris’ opinions on a wider variety of topics.
” 60 MINUTES presented the interview in an honest manner to inform and not mislead the viewing public
It. Your claim that 60 MINUTES acted shamefully is indeed completely baseless. Instead of,
The interview was temporarily edited for the purpose of allowing the public to hear about the vice
President on as many topics as possible in a 21-minute interview,” Sproul said. “Response is a necessity for all broadcasters to enable them to present the news within the time available, and that is what 60
MINUTES did that here, as with the other reports.”
This is the second time Trump and the show have clashed. In 2020, the former president cut short an interview with Stahl at the White House that was recorded for presentation on the CBS News program. Trump then posted a video of Stahl at the White House, noting that she was not wearing a mask, and then suggested in a second tweet that he might make a tape of his conversation with Stahl available before the interview aired.