Former President Donald Trump threatened to sue CBS News on Monday in a letter to the network demanding the release of a full, unedited transcript of Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent interview with “60 Minutes.”
The missive, written by Trump attorney Edward Paltzik, accuses the news station of airing a “doctored” interview with Harris, 60, on the Oct. 7 “60 Minutes” prime-time election special “in order to mislead the American People ahead of the Presidential Election.”
“[I]n contemplation of possible litigation, we demand that you preserve all communications and documents relating to this interview, together with any edits of the interview’s content, and that you refrain from destroying any relevant communications or documents,” Paltzik wrote in the “litigation hold and demand” letter to CBS News’ head of legal affairs.
He further called on the outlet to “immediately provide and publicly release the full, unedited transcript of the ’60 Minutes’ Interview with Kamala Harris.”
The Trump lawyer’s letter comes one day after “60 Minutes” admitted that it used “a different portion” of the vice president’s response to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the prime-time broadcast than it aired in an excerpt played on “Face the Nation” a day earlier.
“The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct,” the program said in a statement, arguing that it allowed “time for other subjects in a wide-ranging 21-minute-long segment.”
The dramatic edit was made after “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker noted that “it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening” to the Harris-Biden administration as it relates to the war in Gaza.
The Democratic nominee’s response on the Oct. 7 show was completely different and far more coherent than her rambling answer showcased in the Oct. 6 preview clip – which was ridiculed as “word salad” on social media.
“CBS and its ’60 Minutes’ producers intentionally misled the public by broadcasting a skillfully edited Interview transcript, while opting to release other portions online,” Paltzik wrote. “Such manipulative editing was aimed at causing confusion among the electorate regarding Vice President Kamala Harris’s abilities, intelligence, and appeal.”
“Due to CBS’ actions, the public cannot distinguish which Kamala Harris they are seeing: the candidate or the puppet of a behind-the-scenes editor,” Paltzik added, arguing the chopped-up interview was intended to “portray the Vice President in a better light.”
The Trump campaign first demanded a release of a full, unedited transcript of Harris’ “60 Minutes” interview the day after it aired, arguing that the vice president’s “word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala’s idiotic response.”
“What else did they choose not to air?” Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this month.
Earlier Monday, Trump, 78, said the “60 Minutes” edit “may be the Biggest Scandal in Broadcast History!”
“CBS MUST GET THE TRANSCRIPT OUT NOW — Litigation has already started,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Harris wasn’t able to put two sentences together, so they completely removed her answer, and put in another one,” the former president said. “The Public has a right to know what was changed to save this TOTALLY UNFIT Presidential Candidate from our Country’s Voters.”
“SHE IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!”
Representatives for “60 Minutes” and CBS News did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
