WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) -

Two Democratic U.S. senators on Wednesday urged Federal

Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr to end

investigations into CBS News and other media outlets.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Ed

Markey, in a letter to Carr first reported by Reuters, urged the

commission "to end its partisan attacks on CBS and cease

interfering with the judgment of independent news

organizations."

The FCC is investigating allegations by President Donald

Trump that CBS selectively edited an interview with former Vice

President Kamala Harris for the "60 Minutes" program when she

was running against Trump in the 2024 election campaign.

Trump also sued CBS, alleging the network deceptively

edited the Harris interview in an effort to "tip the scales in

favor of the Democratic Party" in the election.

The letter from Schumer and Markey suggested that the

commission was using a double standard, and cited Fox News'

editing of a June 2024 interview with then-candidate Trump over

potential release of files regarding accused sex trafficker

Jeffrey Epstein.

Fox's "selective editing of the Trump interview led viewers

to believe that Trump unqualifiedly supported the files' release

when in reality he equivocated," the letter said, calling it a

"politically based double standard."

Fox, CBS and a spokesperson for Carr did not immediately

comment.

In January, Carr reinstated complaints about the "60

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

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

debate between then-President Joe Biden and Trump and Comcast's ( CMCSA )

NBC for allowing Harris to appear on "Saturday Night

Live" shortly before the election.

Carr

did not reinstate a petition rejected by his

predecessor that urged the commission not to renew the

license of a Philadelphia Fox TV station.

"To be clear, the FCC should not investigate or pressure

either CBS or Fox. Editorial discretion lies at the heart of

press freedom and should not be subject to government

interference," Markey and Schumer wrote.

CBS parent company Paramount this month agreed

to

settle Trump's $20 billion lawsuit

, with Paramount paying $16 million toward Trump's future

presidential library. The company needs FCC approval for its

$8.4-billion merger with Skydance Media.

CBS has urged Carr to dismiss the complaint, saying it

did nothing wrong and that the complaint aims to turn "the FCC

into a full-time censor of content."