WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Fair Election Fund, a national election integrity watchdog group, announced today it filed commentary with the Federal Communications Commission on the issue raised against CBS for unlawful news distortion and coordination with the Harris 2024 Presidential Campaign in the network’s 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris last year.
James Tyrell, counsel to the Fair Election Fund, wrote in the letter to the FCC:
“We find it prudent to inform the Commission that CBS has not only engaged in improper news distortion, but has also exploited the ‘media exemption’ under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974, as amended (“FECA”). For the reasons set forth below, we respectfully request that the Commission hold CBS accountable for its unlawful conduct.”
“By substantively editing Ms. Harris’ answers to questions in the CBS Interview, CBS has engaged in activities that exceed the scope of the ‘legitimate press function’ and, therefore, constitute an improper contribution to Ms. Harris’ campaign.”
Tyrell continued by noting that the network’s “news distortion” was not an isolated incident:
“Journalists and the media were publicly criticized by Americans for ‘covering up’ former President Joe Biden’s mental decline and for failing to even conduct any sort of questioning of the White House regarding the same. This repeated pattern of behavior is precisely why the American public no longer trusts the media.”
The full letter to the FCC can be found here.
BACKGROUND:
- The Fair Election Fund successfully stopped national Democrats’ voter suppression scheme in states across the country last year. In October 2024, FEF launched a six-figure paid media campaign that exposed Marc Elias’s failed racist lawsuits that tried to disenfranchise thousands of black voters who signed petitions to get Cornel West on the ballot in their respective battleground states.
- The Fair Election Fund invested over $750,000 in paid media efforts last year to expose the Democrats’ attempts to block Kamala Harris’s competition from the ballot. The Fair Election Fund invested in states such as North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Click here to learn more about the Democrats’ failed election interference scheme and how the Fair Election Fund stood up for voting rights.
- In response to the collusion between CBS and the Harris Campaign, the New York Post Editorial Board urged CBS to fix its “lefty-propaganda problem” after 60 Minutes chose to “slice-and-dice the Harris interview, cutting down one word-salad answer after another into seemingly coherent responses.”
- The Center for American Rights filed a complaint with the FCC against CBS on October 16, 2024.
- The complaint requested that the FCC investigate CBS for “news distortion” in the airing of the “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. After receiving the unedited transcript and full video of the interview from CBS, the FCC opened the matter for public comment. Specifically, in its February 5, 2025 notice, the FCC stated: “Given the value of transparency and demonstrated interest in this ongoing FCC matter, the FCC has determined that the public interest would be served by making the transcript and video available and by opening a docket to seek comment on the issues that have been raised.”
The Fair Election Fund is a watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.