Five former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials have urged FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to drop the agency’s probe into Paramount Global and CBS News that is connected to a “60 Minutes” interview that aired last year.
This week, the five ex-officials — three Democrats and two Republicans — said the investigation against CBS-owned television station WCBS (Channel 2) in New York was initially closed by former FCC Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel, only to be reopened by the new FCC Chair Brendan Carr at the best of the White House and President Donald Trump.
The investigation centers around allegations that CBS News and 60 Minutes edited its interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris last year in order to present her response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in a more-positive light.
An excerpt of the conversation, which included Harris’ response to the question, first aired on “Face the Nation,” hours before the complete interview ran on 60 Minutes. The excerpt on Face the Nation was considerably longer, which resulted in a firestorm of allegations from political conservatives that CBS News was attempting to curry favor with the Harris campaign.
Trump seized on the moment, calling the interview an attempt at election-related interference. Carr has made similar remarks in recent months, suggesting CBS News engaged in news distortion efforts.
While the 60 Minutes segment aired on nearly 200 CBS stations and affiliates across the country, WCBS was apparently signed out because it is owned by Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News. Like most broadcast TV stations and affiliates, WCBS is licensed by the FCC. That license requires WCBS and other TV stations to adhere to certain standards of character and truthfulness, which have since been challenged.
On Thursday, the former FCC officials — Chairmen Alfred Sykes (Republican) and Tom Wheeler (Democrat), and Commissioners Rachelle Chong (Republican), Ervin S. Duggan (Democrat) and Gloria Tristani (Democrat) — said Carr’s decision to unilaterally reopen the investigation against WCBS, weeks after Rosenworcel had closed it out, was clearly connected to the personal and political desires of Trump.
“By reopening this complaint, the Commission is signaling to broadcasters that it will indeed act at the behest of the White House by closely scrutinizing the content of news coverage and threatening the regulatory licenses of broadcasters whose news outlets produce coverage that does not pass muster in the President’s view,” a filing obtained by The Desk said. “We recommend the Commission reverse course, closing this proceeding without further action and reaffirming its long-held commitment to acting as an independent agency rather than the White House’s personal censor.”
The board of the FCC comprises five commissioners, of which no more than three can be from a single political party. That construction is intended to ensure that the agency enforces its rules and regulations fairly and equitably, free from any political influence, the former commissioners wrote.
“From our many combined years of experience as commissioners, we cannot stay silent. The commission on which we served, regardless of the party of its Chair or the policy agenda of the President, was an independent agency,” they said. “It contains a bipartisan group of five commissioners due to the sensitive nature of regulating broadcasters, and the critical role they play in free press and free speech, the bedrock foundations of our democracy. It was dedicated to ensuring that the broadcast spectrum helped to create the marketplace of ideas that undergirds political debate and ensures the richness of American culture. We have taken great pride in the commission’s historic bipartisan commitment to that position.”
The former officials said the FCC needed to close out the WCBS probe once and for all or, it risked being viewed as “a tool of White House-driven speech suppression.”
Carr has not yet returned a request seeking comment on the filing, and the case was still open as of Thursday afternoon.
