President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been embroiled in a legal battle following a controversial “60 Minutes” interview from last year. Trump, who is suing CBS for $20 billion over claims that the interview was deceptively edited, is now facing demands from CBS to provide his personal financial information.
CBS lawyers are seeking access to Trump’s personal financial records, as well as those of his 2024 campaign organizations and Trump Media & Technology Group. This includes details about Truth Social and the $TRUMP meme crypto project.
The legal dispute between Trump, Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, and CBS is unfolding in the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division. Trump and Jackson allege that they were deceived and misled by the October 2024 interview, which they claim portrayed Harris in a negative light.
“Defendants further anticipate that discovery will be needed into President Trump’s legal relationship, if any, with the Donald J. Trump for President 2024 campaign and the Trump Media & Technology Group,” the scheduling order adds.
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Trump’s lawsuit against CBS stems from two “60 Minutes” clips of Harris answering a question about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East. His suit claims the network edited the vice president’s response to make her more appealing to voters and to avoid “one of Harris’ most embarrassing weaknesses,” which it claims was “her habit of uttering ‘word salads’ — i.e., jumbles of exceptionally incoherent speech that drew disapproval even from dyed-in-the-wool Democratic commentators.” The suit says CBS was “looking to profit from manufactured enthusiasm for Harris” by using allegedly “doctored” footage, which they claim was an “unethical and unlawful” attempt to “sabotage a Republican presidential candidate” and “tip the scales” in favor of Democrats ahead of the 2024 election.
Earlier this month, Trump amended his complaint and added a new claim of “unfair competition,” as well as Rep. Jackson as his co-plaintiff after receiving pushback from CBS lawyers for filing the lawsuit in Texas. Trump’s lawyers say editing the Harris interview ultimately violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA). CBS alleges that Trump was simply “judge shopping” when choosing the Lone Star State, as he lives in Florida and CBS is based in New York. The network had motioned to dismiss the Trump suit on account of this in prior court filings, which led Trump to add Jackson in response.
The judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk — a Trump appointee — is the lone federal judge in Amarillo. CBS has argued in court filings that both the federal Lanham Act and Texas statute only govern commercial speech and not political or editorial speech. In a Dec. 6 motion to dismiss, the network’s lawyers noted how Trump’s original complaint “over and over admits that it challenges editorial decision-making, not commercial speech or advertising.” The network has pointed to the complaint’s description of “Face the Nation” — which promoted the Harris interview — as a “morning news show,” referring repeatedly to “news distortion” and alleging that CBS engaged in “deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news” or “rigging or slanting [of] the news,” according to the court filings.
“There can be no serious argument that President Trump’s claim arises out of commercial speech, as required for a viable DTPA claim,” the network’s lawyers argued in motion this month. “For this reason alone, the action fails.”
On Tuesday, the CBS legal team said discovery would likely be needed to address multiple issues that come to mind for them related to Trump’s lawsuit and its allegations against the network.
“Discovery is also needed into, inter alia, whether Plaintiffs have purchased goods or services from Defendants (and whether Rep. Jackson agreed to arbitrate claims relating to CBS’ services); what confusion (if any) was created by the interview and actions taken in connection with such confusion; whether Plaintiffs relied upon any alleged misrepresentation in taking any action or failing to take any action; and the basis for the damages alleged,” the scheduling order says.
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Trump’s suit originally demanded that CBS and Paramount Global — the network’s parent company — cough up $10 billion for the Harris interview, which he now calls “an act of unfair competition” and “unfair advantage” against his Truth Social network under the Lanham Act, in addition to unlawful “election and voter interference.” Trump is also claiming that CBS falsely advertised the interview with a preview for it during an episode of “Face the Nation” last fall.
“Defendants’ deceptive advertising and ‘slice-and-dice’ manipulation of the Interview was also an act of unfair competition against President Trump, a significant owner of shares in publicly traded company Trump Media & Technology Group Corp,” the amended complaint says. “TMTG owns President Trump’s wildly popular social media platform Truth Social, in which President Trump owns a substantial share, and which is one of Defendants’ competitors in the broadcast, online, and digital media content creation spaces.”
