Could CBS lose its license after editing to Kamala's '60 Minutes' interview?

Donald Trump again demanded the withdrawal of CBS's license after the release of the unedited interview with Kamala Harris during the presidential campaign on the program "60 Minutes." The president again lashed out at the network and went so far as to wonder if it ever received money from the Biden administration, as has been discovered with other left-wing media outlets. He expanded the initial complaint he filed in October for damages by $10 billion to $20 billion and added Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, to the suit. With a Republican chairman at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is it possible that Trump's main objective, the revocation of CBS's license, will be met?

As Trump himself noted on Truth Social, "CBS and 60 Minutes defrauded the public by doing something which has never, to this extent, been seen before. They 100% removed Kamala’s horrible election changing answers to questions, and replaced them with completely different, and far better, answers, taken from another part of the interview. This was Election changing 'stuff,' Election Interference and, quite simply, Election Fraud at a level never seen before."

'The biggest broadcasting scandal in history'

According to the president, "This will go down as the biggest Broadcasting SCANDAL in History!!!" He added that "CBS should lose its license, and the cheaters at 60 Minutes should all be thrown out, and this disreputable 'NEWS' show should be immediately terminated. With the new Democrat scandal that just arose with respect to USAID illegally paying large sums of money to Politico and other media outlets, the question must me asked, was CBS paid for committing this FRAUD??? Many other questions to come!"

However, in addition to the First Amendment as a starting point for the network's defense, the president's lawsuit faces two major legal problems for his ultimate goal to be achieved. The first is that television channels do not have licenses as such. These are granted to local broadcasters, which are the ones that ultimately form the national network. In fact, in this case, Trump's legal team directed its complaint against the network's main affiliate, WCBS-TV in New York.

'Premature' dismissal by the former FCC chairwoman

Second, legal experts point out, even if the networks had licenses, the FCC would have no power to terminate them for preferring one candidate over another, whether in a debate or on a "60 Minutes" type program.

Former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel hastily dismissed the lawsuit, calling it "contrary to the First Amendment." However, the agency's current head, Brendan Carr, felt the complaint was dismissed "prematurely" and "on the basis of an insufficient investigative record for the specific conduct of the station in question," so he demanded the unedited interview from CBS.

Paramount on the ropes: FCC must give the go-ahead to negotiations with Skydance

Regardless of whether or not the network's license can be revoked, the situation is complicated for CBS's parent company, Paramount, which in addition to being dragged into the president's latest complaint, requires the FCC's approval so that the agreement with Skydance can be completed. Paramount is preparing an offer to Trump to close the case, although at the moment it has not transcended what it would consist of.

Carr has already made it clear that both the Republican's complaint and that of the American Rights Center organization over the same matter will be taken into account when giving the green light to the Paramount-Skydance deal.