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FCC commissioner urges CBS to release transcript of Harris’ ’60 Minutes’ interview

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Republican Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency is taking seriously a recent complaint about “alleged distortions” of a CBS “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“My FCC colleague, the Republican Commissioner [Nathan] Simington, he was very active in this. What it has revealed is the law on disinformation is the least restrictive rule at the FCC. In almost all cases, it does not apply because it may fall within the type of planning decisions protected by the First Amendment. But he didn’t say CBS had to release the transcript,” Commissioner Carr said on “Mornings with Maria” Tuesday.

“And the reason why this appeal is not trivial is because the rules say, for example, the example we gave is, if you answer a question ‘yes’ and change the answer to ‘no’. on a separate question… that is something that may fall under the law of misrepresentation,” he added.

Last Wednesday, the Center for American Rights, also known as CAR, filed a complaint with the FCC accusing CBS News of “deliberate material distortion of the news.”

KAMALA HARRIS STRUGGLES TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT HER ECONOMIC PLAN ON ’60 MINUTES’

CAR argued that this violation “amounts to intentional misrepresentation — a violation of FCC rules governing broadcasters’ responsibilities.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr weighed in on the status of a formal complaint against CBS News’ “Mornings with Maria” on Tuesday. (Getty Images)

The complaint alleges that CBS released an unedited transcript of the interview to correct the record, which includes calls from former President Trump and many others.

“This is not just one interview or one network,” CAR president Daniel Suhr said in a statement. “This is about the public’s trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during the most consequential election of our time. When broadcasters manipulate conversations and distort the truth, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act quickly to restore economic. public confidence in the media our news.”

Carr added Tuesday that he agrees with joint calls to release the full transcript of the interview, after reports that the “Face the Nation” interview showed a different answer to the exact same question from the “60 Minutes” version.

“I don’t think this should be a joint lawsuit because I think CBS should release it … and that would put CBS entirely in that FCC complaint,” Carr said.

He added that it’s “a matter of doing journalism and having good news.”

“Actually, I know that people are trying to contact their collaborators in the area, asking them if they will release those documents.”

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After weeks of silence despite growing criticism of the interview, CBS released a statement Sunday evening addressing the furor that erupted after it revealed two different answers to the same question in an interview on “60 Minutes” earlier this month with the Democratic nominee.

A CBS News statement said Trump’s claim that “fake editing” was used was “false,” and explained that producers used a “brief” portion of Harris’ response.

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Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.


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