House Democrat launches investigation into Trump, ’60 Minutes’ interview edit  

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is demanding CBS and its parent company Paramount provide more information about how it edited an interview with President Trump that aired on “60 Minutes” last month.  

Raskin, in a letter to newly appointed CBS News ombudsperson Ken Weinstein that was shared exclusively with The Hill, blasted the network for what he said was the “improper influence President Donald Trump wielded over CBS News’s editorial decisions” in recent weeks, including during the interview that aired Nov. 2  

“President Trump increasingly appears to be exercising direct control over CBS’s editorial decisions, destroying CBS’s ‘journalistic integrity’ while violating its right to be free from governmental coercion and manipulation,” Raskin wrote.  

The Democrat took specific issue with the network’s decision not to include a portion of Trump’s comments to journalist Norah O’Donnell in which he bragged about a $16 million settlement Paramount paid his presidential foundation earlier this year.  

The settlement was made to quell a lawsuit Trump brought against the company over its editing of a similar interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election. 

“And, actually, ’60 Minutes’ paid me a lot of money,” Trump said during the interview in comments that did not air in the broadcast but were included in a transcript posted online that evening. “And you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t want to embarrass you, and I’m sure you’re not … I think you have a great, new leader, frankly, who’s — the young woman that’s leading your whole enterprise is a great, from what I know.”  

After it faced intense backlash from Trump’s allies over the Harris edit, CBS vowed to publish full transcripts of all “60 Minutes” interviews with presidents and presidential candidates.  

The “new leader” Trump was referring to was Bari Weiss, the former New York Times columnist and a controversial figure in media who was implemented as CBS’s editor in chief under new CEO David Ellison, the son of tech mogul and billionaire Larry Ellison.  

As Paramount won the Federal Communication Commission’s approval for its megamerger with Skydance, David Ellison promised to tweak CBS’s editorial direction to represent a more “diverse” set of viewpoints in its news coverage and hired Weinstein, a former head of conservative think tank the Hudson Institute as ombudsperson.  

Trump has praised the Ellison family’s takeover of Paramount, while top White House officials have reportedly signaled support for the massive media conglomerate as it eyes an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN.  

Raskin wrote in his Wednesday letter that CBS News “is just one victim in President Trump’s systematic campaign of intimidation against media organizations,” a campaign he noted has reached overseas to the BBC, which the president has also threatened to sue over its editing of his comments on Jan. 6, 2021, for a documentary it aired.  

The Maryland Democrat is requesting a written explanation of the editorial standards CBS applies in reviewing complaints, an assessment of whether Trump’s requests to CBS to omit portions of his interview violates CBS News’s editorial independence standards, and all documents, communications, and editorial guidance provided to “60 Minutes” producers regarding the Trump interview.  

“Mr. Weinstein: news ombudsmen serve as independent advocates for the public, investigating complaints and publicly critiquing their organizations when those organizations fall short,” Raskin wrote. “You have a duty to defend CBS’s editorial independence, rather than ratify President Trump’s influence over the organization’s coverage.”  

Representatives for Paramount and CBS News did not respond to a request for comment.