*

FCC Chair says the investigation will continue

*

Commission comment period on '60 Minutes' complaint closed

on

Monday

*

ACLU, conservative groups have asked FCC to reject

complaint

(Adds comments by FCC chair, American Civil Liberties Union,

background, paragraphs 2-16)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - CBS on Tuesday urged

the Federal Communications Commission to immediately dismiss a

complaint over a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President

Kamala Harris, saying there was no evidence of "news

distortion."

The program, which aired in October, drew criticism from a

conservative group and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump

over CBS's broadcast of a portion of Harris' answer to a

question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on "60

Minutes" and a different portion of her answer to the same

question on "Face the Nation."

Trump has sued CBS for $20 billion, claiming that "60

Minutes" deceptively edited the interview in order to interfere

in the November presidential election, which he won.

CBS, which is owned by Paramount Global ( PARAA ), said in a

filing made public Tuesday that "the transcript and unedited

interview footage demonstrate that CBS engaged in commonplace

editorial practices - specifically, by deciding what material

from a lengthy sit-down interview would air in a time-limited

television format."

The network called on the FCC to dismiss the complaint

"without delay."

FCC Chair Brendan Carr rejected the idea, telling Reuters on

Tuesday that there is still an ongoing investigation. "We're not

close in my view to the position of dismissing that complaint at

this point," he said.

CBS cited an ideologically diverse group of commentators who

warned that any FCC action against CBS "would violate the First

Amendment and chill speech, all while creating the prospect that

the commission will serve as the arbiter of acceptable

journalism going forward."

CBS said the complaint aims to turn "the FCC into a

full-time censor of content" which would result in an

unconstitutional role and an impossible one for the agency.

The Center for Individual Freedom, Americans for Tax Reform,

Taxpayers Protection Alliance and other groups last week called

on Carr to reject the complaint, saying an "adverse ruling

against CBS would constitute regulatory overreach and advance

precedent that can be weaponized by future FCCs."

The FCC is reviewing whether the broadcast violates "news

distortion" rules. Though the agency is prohibited from

censorship or infringing the First Amendment rights of media,

broadcasters cannot intentionally distort the news.

The American Civil Liberties Union said separately there was

no basis to investigate. "To conduct an investigation into news

distortion without a shred of evidence appears intended to

harass CBS and chill those putting forth disfavored viewpoints,"

the group said.

Paramount is seeking FCC approval for an $8.4 billion merger

with Skydance Media.

Trump has continued to attack CBS and "60 Minutes," and

criticized the outlet on Sunday for a recent interview.

In January, the FCC reinstated complaints about the "60

Minutes" interview with Harris, as well as complaints about how

Walt Disney's ( DIS ) ABC News moderated the pre-election TV

debate between then-President Joe Biden and Trump. It also

reinstated complaints against Comcast's ( CMCSA ) NBC for

allowing Harris to appear on "Saturday Night Live" shortly

before the election.

The FCC's prior chair, Jessica Rosenworcel, in January

rejected those complaints.