CBS in Trump lawsuit says it can't be held liable for 'exercise of editorial judgment' by officials

In President Trump's $20 billion lawsuit against Paramount Global, CBS' owner, the news organization said in a court filing on Monday that it cannot be held liable for its "exercise of editorial judgment" by public officials because of the First Amendment.

"This is a meritless lawsuit" over "editorial decisions Plaintiffs dislike," CBS and Paramount Global said in its court filing, referring to Trump and his co-plaintiff, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas.

"President Trump and Representative Jackson attempt to evade bedrock First Amendment principles establishing that public officials like themselves cannot hold news organizations like CBS liable for the exercise of editorial judgment," according to the court filing. "Effectively conceding that their claims cannot survive if the Broadcasts are editorial speech subject to full First Amendment protections, Plaintiffs argue that the Broadcasts somehow became 'commercial speech' via a simple promotion for the Interview.

"But they provide this Court with nothing that would support the conclusion that the Face the Nation and 60 Minutes Broadcasts—involving an interview of a presidential candidate about issues of utmost public concern—are anything but fully protected editorial speech, and they cite not a single case holding that news broadcasts (or promotions for such broadcasts) are commercial speech. Indeed, the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected that argument. The First Amendment applies fully to the news reporting at issue and bars Plaintiffs’ claims."

Paramount Global is being sued by Trump for $20 billion over the TV news network allegedly deceptively editing a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who at the time of the interview was also the Democratic nominee in the presidential race.

Trump's legal team last month argued in a court filing regarding commercial speech that CBS, in its previous legal filings, “neglects to reckon with modern forms of advertising monetization; the consumers’ attention is the product which content creators vie for, which they can then monetize with advertisements.”