Paramount/CBS Might Settle $10B Trump Election Interference Lawsuit in Second Major Network Loss

It appears that far-left Hollywood and the far-left media finally understand they can’t interfere in elections by helping one candidate, and they can’t willy-nilly smear military personnel without consequences.

Paramount Global, which owns CBS News, might settle President-elect Donald J. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against CBS for election interference, The Wall Street Journal reported today. In October, Trump sued after the network edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris so she didn’t sound like an idiot.

And in similar news, a jury has clobbered CNN with a $4 million judgement because the network smeared a Navy veteran as a conman.

The Interference

The legal trouble for CBS — and parent Paramount — began when editors fiddled with one of Harris’ characteristically garbled answers to an easy question.

Network editors concocted a fake answer to a question about Israel from 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker.

“We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, and yet Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course,” Whitaker said, noting that the Biden administration pushed the Israeli head of state to accept a ceasefire. 

“He’s resisted,” Whitaker continued. “You urged him not to go into Lebanon. He went in anyway. Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?”

Answered Harris:

The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles.

“But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” Whitaker pressed.

Then Harris delivered this classic word-salad, which ran as a promo on Face the Nation on Sunday, October 6.

Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.

The next night, when CBS aired the full interview, Harris’ answer had changed:

We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.

The Lawsuit

Thus did Trump sue CBS in Texas for election interference. 

The 19-page action accused CBS of “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to (a) confuse, deceive, and mislead the public, and (b) attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion,” in violation of Texas law.

Now, Paramount apparently wants to settle. “Executives have held internal discussions … a sign of larger efforts to dial down tensions with the incoming president,” the Journal reported:

Paramount, owner of CBS, its namesake studio and several cable channels, has a major piece of business in front of the new administration: its planned merger with Skydance Media. It’s become clear to executives at both companies that Trump’s dissatisfaction with CBS News will make the review tougher than they anticipated, and that they’ll likely need to offer concessions to win approval, people familiar with the situation said.

Incoming Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr gave Paramount executives a warning to that effect at a reception late last year following the taping of the Kennedy Center honors in Washington, according to people familiar with the exchange, and he has echoed the message in public remarks.

The FCC has the authority over the transaction because it would involve the transfer of broadcast-TV licenses held by local CBS-owned stations.

Paramount execs have not “approached Trump’s team” to discuss an agreement, the Journal reported. But they “were gaming out options to reduce friction with the incoming administration.”

If Paramount settles, it will give Trump his second major victory over the far-left, hate-Trump media.

ABC agreed to pay Trump $15 million after network star George Stephanopoulous, a former capo regime in the Clinton Mafia, falsely said that a jury found Trump guilty of raping kooky columnist E. Jean Carroll. 

During an interview with GOP South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace, Stephanopolous asked how on earth she could support Trump.

“You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president,” Stephanpolous said:

Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape, and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?

The questions are “meant to shame me about another potential rape victim,” Mace replied.

Stephanopoulos didn’t give up:

It’s actually not about shaming you. It’s a question about Don … You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Donald Trump has been found liable for rape by a jury. Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury. It’s been affirmed by a judge.

A jury found no such thing, and so ABC had to cough up $15 million to help finance Trump’s presidential library.

CNN Loses Lawsuit

And in yet a third bruising loss for the media, a jury awarded a former Navy man $4 million in lost earnings for a report that aired on CNN’s The Lead With Jake Tapper in 2021.

Tapper and Reporter Alex Marquadt smeared veteran Zachary Young by claiming, as Fox News reported, that he “illegally profited off desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan following the Biden administration’s military withdrawal, implying he was involved in ‘black market’ dealings and ruining his professional reputation as a result.”

The big problem for CNN: An editor told colleagues the story was “full of holes like Swiss cheese.”

Next the jury will consider punitive damages.