Paramount and CBS submitted motions on Thursday to dismiss President Donald Trump’s lawsuit concerning a “60 Minutes” interview from last year, labeling the lawsuit as an “insult to the First Amendment.”
Trump initially filed a lawsuit against the network days prior to the November election, claiming that the show breached a Texas consumer protection statute by misleadingly editing an interview with Kamala Harris. Last month, the president broadened the lawsuit, asserting a new claim under the federal Lanham Act and requesting $20 billion in damages.
To establish jurisdiction in federal court in Texas, Trump also included Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, as a co-plaintiff.
The company submitted two motions to dismiss the case: one due to lack of jurisdiction and the other based on the assertion that consumer fraud laws do not apply to editorial speech.
“The company’s attorneys stated, ‘This lawsuit challenges the First Amendment and lacks legal or factual foundation.'”
The lawsuit has caused concern at CBS, as Paramount has suggested it might be open to settling with Trump. The company is partly worried that Trump’s appointees at the Federal Communications Commission could delay the merger with Skydance.
The motions submitted on Thursday presented a strong case that the lawsuit poses an unconstitutional danger to free speech.
“The motion contends that if the First Amendment has any significance, it indicates that public officials such as Plaintiffs cannot make news organizations like CBS accountable for merely exercising editorial discretion.” “Regardless of whether Plaintiffs think the full unedited Interview ought to have been broadcast or merely in an edited form they approve, they are not entitled under the First Amendment to insist on news that aligns with their preferences.”
Trump initiated the lawsuit in the federal courthouse in Amarillo, where almost all cases are allocated to Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Trump.
In the motion concerning jurisdiction, Paramount contended that there is no justification for a Texas judge to preside over a lawsuit brought by Trump, who resides in Florida, against CBS, a New York-based company.
CBS broadcast two segments of Harris’ reply to a question regarding Gaza. During the initial broadcast of “Face the Nation,” she provided a rather roundabout answer. The segment aired the next day on “60 Minutes” was shorter. Trump contended that CBS aimed to misrepresent Harris as being more articulate than she actually was by omitting her “word salad” reply.
Trump asserts that the editing breached state and federal consumer fraud regulations, as it caused confusion and constituted “unfair competition” against Truth Social, his social media platform.
CBS submitted a comparable motion to dismiss in December, but it became irrelevant when Trump revised his claim the previous month.
