Trump and Paramount Agree on Mediator in ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit
Paramount and President Trump are ready to start mediation in his cause of $ 20 billion against the CBS News, according to two people with knowledge of the decision, the last development in a legal battle with a high postal content that involves one of the main American news networks.
The two parts have chosen a mediator for the case in the last few days, he said that the people, who have spoken on condition of anonymity because the legal proceedings are reserved.
Although an mediator, requested by the Court, will try to help the parties reach an agreement, there is no guarantee that an agreement is reached.
An agreement would be an extraordinary concession from a large medium of US medium to a politician, especially in a case in which there is no evidence that the network has wrong or damaged the reputation of the plaintiff. Trump states that “60 minutes” naively modified an interview last autumn with the former vice -president Kamala Harris, his opponent in the presidential election campaign. The network says that editing is protected from the first amendment.
The two sides He started talking about a possible settlement over two months ago. The prospect of an agreement ranked some “60 minutes” employees, who believe that it would be an indelible stain on the reputation of CBS News. Bill Owens, the long -standing executive manufacturer for “60 minutes”, said in a meeting of the February staff that he I would not apologize as part of any potential settlement.
But some in the company have a different opinion. In their opinion, the wider company interests of Paramount did not serve by fighting a prolonged legal battle with a President of the United States who has repeatedly demonstrated the desire to use the power of his office to damage the companies that fall out of dirty with the White House. Last month, CBS News lawyers presented a motion to reject the cause of Mr. Trump.
A spokesman for Paramount refused to comment. And Paltzik, a lawyer representing Mr. Trump if he said in a declaration: “President Trump will pursue this vital question to his right and legitimate conclusion”.
Mr. Trump CBS News in court last yearBy saying that the changes of the interview with Mrs. Harris missed the spectators and damaged her campaign. The CBS News denied those statements, stating that the transmission “was not shower or deceptive”.
In February, the Federal Communications Commission a complete transcription released of the interview. According to the transcription, Mrs. Harris gave a long answer to a question about the Israeli Prime Minister. A part of that answer was broadcast in a preview of the interview on “Face The Nation”, a CBS show on Sunday. A shorter part of the answer aired the next day in an episode of “60 minutes”.
It is a common practice for news organizations to include an extract of an interview complete with news articles or television broadcasts for the good of concision.
While the lawyers of CBS News and Mr. Trump archive legal briefs, the company is approaching a merger with parachutingA suspended Hollywood study supported by the Larry Ellison technological billionaire. Some paramount managers believe that solving the case with Mr. Trump would help you fatten the wheels for that merger, which is awaiting approval from the FCC
Mr. Trump said in February Paramount’s merger with Skydance was not related to his cause and a spokesman for the company said that the two are “completely separated”.
Shari Redstone, Paramount control shareholder, He said in a meeting of the Board of Directors of Paramount in February Which was in favor of moving forward in a way that would lead to some form of conclusion, including mediation.
David Ortir Contributed relationships.
