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Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against CBS alleging “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion.” The lawsuit was filed in the United Stated District Court Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division.
According to the suit, the main complaint is over an edited interview with Vice President Kamala Harris which CBS conducted and aired on its “60 Minutes” program. “To paper over Kamala’s “word salad” weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,” reads the complaint. The law cited as the basis of the complaint is the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.
The complaint states that the damages incurred by President Trump are “reasonably believed to be at least $10,000,000,000,” The complaint seeks compensatory damages of that amount and “an order enjoining CBS’s ongoing false, misleading, and deceptive acts.” The complaint also demands a Jury Trial.
The complaint states that Amarillo is a proper venue “because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to President Trump’s claims occurred in this District by virtue of the Interview being transmitted by CBS into this District (and elsewhere) and because CBS is subject to this Court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to this action.”
The attorneys listed on the complaint are Edward Andrew Paltzik of New York City, New York, Daniel Z. Epstein of Miami Gardens, Florida, and Chris D. Parker of Amarillo, Texas.
The presiding judge in the case is Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk. Kacsmaryk was appointed by President Trump in 2017 and assumed office in 2019. Judge Kacsmaryk’s court has been at the center of several high-profile cases, including the FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lawsuit which challenged the FDA’s approval of mifepristone.
In response to the lawsuit, 60 Minutes published the following statement:
Former President Donald Trump's repeated claims against 60 Minutes are false.
• The interview was not doctored; and
• 60 Minutes did not hide any part of Vice President Kamala Harris's answer to the question at issue.
60 Minutes fairly presented the interview to inform the viewing audience, and not to mislead it. The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it.