Democrats Chuck Schumer and Ed Markey called on FCC chairman Brendan Carr to end the agency’s “partisan attacks” on CBS and to “cease interfering with the judgement of independent news organizations.”
In a new letter, dated Wednesday, July 16, the pair called out the agency for an “outrageous abuse” of its enforcement powers by making CBS turn over the transcript and camera footage of the “60 Minutes” Kamala Harris interview, which was subsequently opened up to a public comment period as part of an investigation into allegations of “news distortion” that ended on March 24.
At the same time, the letter knocked the FCC’s “political double standard” by not acting on Fox News’ “selective editing” of a June 2024 interview with then-candidate Donald Trump , which they said “appeared to be far more misleading” when he was asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files.
“The selective editing of the Trump interview led viewers to believe that Trump unqualifiedly supported the files’ release when in reality he equivocated,” Schumer and Markey wrote. “Yet, when CBS made editorial decisions around a ’60 Minutes’ interview with then-Vice President candidate Kamala Harris in October 2024 that had no effect on its content, the Federal Communications Commission opened an inquiry.”
During the interview, Trump replied, “Yeah, yeah I would,” when asked if he would release the Epstein files. But in a portion of the interview that did not air on “Fox & Friends,” he said: “I guess I would. I think that less so because, you don’t know, you don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would.”
Asked if it would restore trust, he added, “Yeah. I don’t know about Epstein so much as I do the others. Certainly about the way he died. It’d be interesting to find out what happened there, because that was a weird situation and the cameras didn’t happen to be working, etc., etc. But yeah, I’d go a long way toward that one.”
While Fox’s cable network is not subject to FCC scrutiny, the lawmakers pointed out that the interview being re-aired over its owned and operated stations would put it under the agency’s jurisdiction. But they emphasized an investigation into Fox News is “not the answer” and that neither network should be investigated or pressured.
“Editorial discretion lies at the heart of press freedom and should not be subject to government interference,” the letter concluded. “Rather than opening an investigation into Fox, the FCC should close the docket in its investigation over the Harris interview on ’60 Minutes’ and stop wielding its regulatory power as a weapon against the news media.”
In a statement to TheWrap, a Fox News spokesperson said that there was no selective editing and that Trump’s interview had “standard editorial cuts for time.” It added that the full answer to the question aired on the following day’s show and was also run on multiple Fox News Media platforms with “full transparency” on June 3, 2024, including audio, digital and streaming. The entire transcript was also posted on foxnews.com.
In addition to the agency’s investigation, Trump sued Paramount for $20 billion over the Harris interview, which he alleged was deceptively edited and had caused him “mental anguish.” Trump’s complaint took aim at Harris’ response to a question on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was listening to the Biden administration, which was different in the final cut that aired on Oct. 7 than what aired in an earlier promo on “Face the Nation.”
Though Paramount and CBS argued that the suit was “meritless,” the parties ultimately settled for $16 million, which covered Trump’s legal fees and costs, as well as a donation that will be allocated to a “future presidential library.”
Paramount also said that “in the future, ’60 Minutes’ will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.” But there was notably no apology or statement of regret from CBS News or “60 Minutes.”
Lawmakers including Sen. Elizabeth Warren have slammed the Paramount settlement, warning it could be “bribery in plain sight” for regulatory approval of the media giant’s pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, which is under review at the FCC due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses.
Warren and other Democratic lawmakers have introduced the Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act of 2025, which is aimed at to closing loopholes allowing for unchecked donations to presidential libraries. Markey, who is a co-sponsor on the proposed legislation, has also called for the Paramount-Skydance merger’s approval to be brought to a vote by the FCC’s full commission.
Representatives for Carr and the FCC did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
