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Settlement to be allocated to future Trump presidential

library

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No statement of apology or regret in settlement

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Trump filed $10 billion lawsuit against CBS in October

By Helen Coster, Jack Queen, David Shepardson

NEW YORK, July 2 (Reuters) - CBS parent company

Paramount late on Tuesday agreed to settle a lawsuit

filed by U.S. President Donald Trump over an interview with

former Vice President Kamala Harris that the network broadcast

in October, the latest concession by a media company to a

president who has targeted outlets over what he describes as

false or misleading coverage.

Paramount said it would pay $16 million to settle the suit

with the money allocated to Trump's future presidential library.

"The settlement does not include a statement of apology or

regret," the company statement added.

Shares of Paramount fell 1.2% on Wednesday

Trump filed a $10-billion lawsuit against CBS in October,

alleging the network deceptively edited an interview that aired

on its "60 Minutes" news program with Harris in an effort to

"tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party" in the

election. Harris became the Democratic candidate after former

President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

In an amended complaint filed in February, Trump bumped his

claim for damages to $20 billion.

The settlement comes as Paramount needs approval from the U.S.

Federal Communications Commission for its $8.4-billion merger

with Skydance Media.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, said the

settlement over an entirely "meritless" lawsuit was a

"desperate" move by Paramount that "casts a long shadow over the

integrity of the transaction pending before the FCC" and "marks

a dangerous precedent for the First Amendment."

On the campaign trail last year and as president, Trump has

called for revoking CBS' broadcasting licenses. The FCC, an

independent federal agency, issues eight-year licenses to

individual broadcast stations, not networks.

CBS aired two versions of the Harris interview in which she

appears to give different answers to the same question about the

Israel-Hamas war, but the network and some groups have said it

was normal editing common in television interviews.

CBS previously said the lawsuit was "completely without merit"

and had asked a judge to dismiss the case.

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, said "Paramount just paid

Trump a bribe for merger approval.... State prosecutors should

make the corporate execs who sold out our democracy answer in

court, today."

Senator Bernie Sanders said "Paramount's decision will only

embolden Trump to continue attacking, suing and intimidating the

media which he has labeled 'the enemy of the people.'"

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said she plans to propose

"rules to restrict donations to sitting presidents' libraries."

Senator Ed Markey said the deal "reeks of political

interference."

Trump's legal team welcomed the settlement on Wednesday.

"With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump

delivers another win for the American people," a spokesperson

said.

Paramount said it also agreed that 60 Minutes would release

transcripts of interviews with future U.S. presidential

candidates after they aired, subject to redactions as required

for legal or national security concerns.

A spokesperson for Paramount Chair Shari Redstone was

unavailable for comment.

At Paramount's annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday,

Co-CEO George Cheeks said the company chose to settle the suit

to avoid the "somewhat unpredictable cost" of mounting a legal

defense, and the risk of an adverse judgment that could result

in "significant financial as well as reputational damage," as

well as the disruption of an ongoing legal battle.

The case entered mediation in April.

Trump alleged CBS's editing of the interview violated the

Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, which

makes it illegal to use false, misleading or deceptive acts in

commerce.

Media advocacy groups said Trump's novel use of such laws

against news outlets could be a way of circumventing legal

protections for the press, which can be held liable for

defamation against public figures only if they say something

they knew or should have known was false.

He has repeatedly lashed out against the news media, often

casting unfavorable coverage as "fake news."

The Paramount settlement follows a decision by Walt Disney ( DIS )

-owned ABC News to settle a defamation case brought by

Trump. As part of that settlement, which was made public on

December 14, the network donated $15 million to Trump's

presidential library and publicly apologized for comments by

anchor George Stephanopoulos, who inaccurately said Trump had

been found liable for rape.

It also follows a settlement by Facebook and Instagram parent

company Meta Platforms ( META ), which on January 29 said it had

agreed to pay about $25 million to settle a lawsuit by Trump

over the company's suspension of his accounts after the January

6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump has vowed to pursue more claims against the media.

On December 17, he filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines

Register newspaper and its former top pollster over a poll

published on November 2 that showed Harris leading Trump by

three percentage points in Iowa.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order barring

the Des Moines Register from engaging in "ongoing deceptive and

misleading acts and practices" related to polling.

A Des Moines Register representative said the organization

stands by its reporting and that the lawsuit was without merit.

On June 30 Trump dropped the federal lawsuit and refiled it

in an Iowa state court.