House Democrat asks CBS to explain Trump's "60 Minutes" interview edit
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President Trump during a "60 Minutes" interview from his first term on Oct. 25, 2020. Photo: CBS/Getty Images
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has asked CBS News' ombudsman Kenneth Weinstein to explain the reasoning behind the outlet's editing of its "60 Minutes" interview with President Trump last month, citing concerns that the president "increasingly appears to be exercising direct control over CBS's editorial decisions."
The big picture: CBS has been under renewed scrutiny from both the Trump administration and its critics following a high-profile lawsuit regarding the new program's edit of an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris and public attacks by the president.
- The news network had previously pledged to run unedited interviews in full after Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem complained that "Face the Nation" edited her answers to questions when they cut too much of her interview.
- CBS hired Weinstein in September, prompting criticism that he would bring right-wing bias to the news organization. Wienstein is the former president and CEO of the Hudson Institute, a right-leaning think tank. He has also donated to pro-Trump and conservative causes, per the New York Times.
- About 28 minutes of Trump's almost 90-minute interview were aired during the Nov. 2 episode of "60 Minutes." The outlet released the full transcript on its site the same day, though some people noted the 73-minute extended video clip still left out sections that Trump had asked to exclude.
State of play: In the letter to Weinstein, Raskin flagged concerns about CBS cutting a segment in which Trump said he didn't know who Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was, despite pardoning him less than two weeks prior.
- The Trump family's crypto empire reportedly had connections with Zhao's cryptocurrency exchange company.
- Raskin also criticized CBS for omitting Trump's comments on the $16 million payout from its parent company, Paramount, to settle the Harris interview lawsuit.
- Raskin requested that Weinstein share CBS's editorial standards, all documents and communications related to Trump's interview, and a review of the outlet's deletion of the president's comments per his request by Dec. 17.
What they're saying: "Mr. Weinstein: news ombudsmen serve as independent advocates for the public, investigating complaints and publicly critiquing their organizations when those organizations fall short," Raskin said in his letter.
- "You have a duty to defend CBS's editorial independence, rather than ratify President Trump's influence over the organization's coverage," he added.
- Representatives for CBS and the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
- House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a Trump ally, did not answer Axios' request by publication time about the letter.
Zoom in: Raskin said CBS is only "one victim in President Trump's systematic campaign of intimidation against media organizations," pointing to the president's recent attacks on the BBC, including a threat of a $1 billion defamation lawsuit over how the outlet edited his Jan. 6 speech.
