Former President Donald Trump's onetime lawyer claims CBS News is in hot legal water over its televised interview with Vice President Kamala Harris — but records show a conservative law firm filed a complaint to a federal bureau.
Will Scharf took to X Wednesday afternoon to foretell of dark times ahead linked to a "60 Minutes" interview featuring the Democratic presidential nominee alone, after Trump ducked out.
"CBS News is hiding the truth about its Kamala interview," Scharf wrote. "They’re so in the tank for her that they’re now breaking the law."
CBS News has reportedly declined a request to comment on the filing.
While Scharf's language suggested that CBS News was facing criminal charges, in truth the federal agency that regulates television communications received a complaint from the Center for Americans Rights, a nonprofit law firm tied to conservative causes.
The complaint to the Federal Communications Commission begins with a quotation.
“Rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest," the quotation reads. "Indeed, there is no act more harmful to the public’s ability to handle its affairs."
Concerns of slanted news mirror those expressed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who successfully prosecuted Trump on charges he falsified business records to hide a catch-and-kill agreement with the National Enquirer.
Dominion Voting Systems raised similar concerns in its defamation case against Fox News over false 2020 election fraud claims that resulted in a $787 million settlement.
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The Center for American Rights' complaint contends CBS News deliberately distorted news by editing Harris' response to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and airing different parts on different shows.
“This isn’t just about one interview or one network,” said Daniel Suhr, President of the Center for American Rights, said in a statement. “This is about the public’s trust in the media on critical issues of national security."
The Center for American Rights has also lodged complaints against ABC News, arguing presidential debate moderators showed a bias toward Harris and unfairly targeted Trump, the group said in a press release.
Trump has called CBS News a "threat to Democracy" — an outburst the chair of the Federal Communications Commission Jessica Rosenworcel condemned as a threat to free speech.
“While repeated attacks against broadcast stations by the former President may now be familiar, these threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored,” Rosenworcel said in a reported statement.
“As I’ve said before, the First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy.”