'They have to pay a price': Trump goes after New York Times for purported 'unlawful acts'

President Donald Trump issued a wall of text threatening criminal and civil penalties to media companies for how they covered last year's presidential election.

The president posted a 316-word rant Wednesday morning on Truth Social alleging that Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, had committed election fraud by editing portions of an interview with his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris, which Trump claims was deceptive.

"The case we have against 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount is a true WINNER," Trump posted at 9:26 a.m. EST. "They cheated and defrauded the American People at levels never seen before in the Political Arena. Kamala Harris, during Early Voting and, immediately before Election Day, was asked a question, and gave an answer, that was so bad and incompetent that it would have cost her many of the Votes that she ended up getting. It was a disastrous answer! 60 Minutes and its corporate parents, in order that this not have a negative impact on her, removed and deleted Kamala’s entire answer, every word of it, and replaced it with a response that she gave later on to an entirely different question."

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"The new answer was not good, but it didn’t show Gross Incompetence like the one that was removed by 60 Minutes," Trump added. "In other words, 60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People, the Federal Elections Commission, and the Federal Communications System.

CBS News in February released unedited transcripts of the October interview, saying the edits were consistent with the network's editorial policies, but its parent company is set to enter mediation Wednesday with Trump's lawyers as Paramount executives are seeking the Trump administration’s approval of a sale to the entertainment firm Skydance.

"Despite all of the above, and Paramount’s/CBS’/60 Minutes’ admittance to this crime and, with other similar corrupt removals of answers to questions, the Failing New York Times, which is Fake News both in writing and polling, claims that 'people' said that the case is baseless," Trump posted. "They don’t mean that, they just have a non curable case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, possibly to the point where the Times’ interjection makes them liable for tortious interference, including in Elections, which we are intently studying."

"The bottom line is that what 60 Minutes and its corporate owners have committed is one of the most egregious illegalities in Broadcast History," Trump added. "Nothing like this, the illegal creation of an answer for a Presidential Candidate, has ever been done before, they have to pay a price for it, and the Times should also be on the hook for their likely unlawful behavior. It is vital to hold these Liars and Fraudsters accountable!"