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Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'60 Minutes' segment paints Trump as threat to the country's legal system amid lawsuit
As its parent company faces a lawsuit from President Donald Trump, "60 Minutes" aired a segment Sunday night that labeled Trump a threat to the legal system, election system and the rule of law itself. Host Scott Pelley spoke to several lawyers about Trump's executive orders targeting and penalizing law firms associated with Democratic attacks against him. Pelley said it was "nearly impossible" to find people to speak on camera about the subject out of fear of retaliation. One of the few who did speak to Pelley was Democratic attorney Marc Elias, who worked as general counsel for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and whose former firm, Perkins Coie, was at the center of one executive order in March. Perkins Coie was the firm that hired the company behind the infamous Christopher Steele dossier about Trump's alleged connections to Russia. Among other things, the order called for Perkins Coie employees to be stripped of their security clearances and banned from accessing government buildings. It also called for the termination of the firm's existing contracts with government clients. Trump Lashes Out At Cbs, '60 Minutes,' Says They Should Pay A 'Big Price' Elias referred to Trump as "the walking embodiment of everything that is wrong with the American political system" and suggested the rule of law is at risk if these executive orders stand. Without that, Elias claimed, Trump could take on other institutions. Read On The Fox News App "This is why the business community ought to care," Elias said. "Today, it might be that, you know, Donald Trump thinks he can take over the election system through one of his executive orders. Tomorrow, maybe it's the banking system. After that, maybe it's contracts. Maybe he decrees I'm going to decide which contracts are binding and which contracts aren't binding." He added, "So, the legal system is fundamental to how our society operates, how capitalism operates, and everyone should have a stake in that." Donald Ayer, former Deputy Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush, also called Trump's order "a direct attack on the whole functioning of our judicial system" with the whole system of government at risk. Another lawyer, San Francisco attorney John Keker, spoke about his effort to recruit law firms to oppose and challenge Trump's executive orders, saying that the alternative could result in a dictatorship. "That's what's happened in China. It happened in Russia. These are legal systems that look like legal systems, but in fact are controlled by a dictatorship," Keker said. "60 Minutes" did not air a guest to argue in favor of Trump's orders against law firms. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture A federal judge blocked Trump's order against Perkins Coie shortly after the law firm requested an emergency restraining order preventing the order from taking effect. The same judge permanently blocked Trump's order from taking effect on Friday, calling it unconstitutional. "60 Minutes" is currently caught up in its own legal issues with Trump as CBS and parent company Paramount Global continue to navigate the lawsuit. Trump is seeking $20 billion in a lawsuit against CBS, alleging election interference over its handling of a "60 Minutes" interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The president accused CBS of aiding his 2024 Democratic opponent through deceptive editing just weeks before the presidential election. Paramount Global agreed to mediation last month, signaling their courtroom feud could result in a article source: '60 Minutes' segment paints Trump as threat to the country's legal system amid lawsuit
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump, CBS parent company set for mediation in $20 billion '60 Minutes' lawsuit
CBS' parent company, Paramount Global, and President Donald Trump are set to begin mediation in his $20 billion election interference lawsuit, Fox News Digital has confirmed. Trump is seeking $20 billion in a lawsuit against CBS, alleging election interference over its handling of a "60 Minutes" interview last year with Vice President Kamala Harris. The president has accused CBS of aiding his 2024 Democratic opponent through deceptive editing one month before they faced off in the presidential election. The saga began when Harris was widely mocked for a "word salad" answer she gave to "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker during a preview of the interview on "Face the Nation," and CBS then aired a different answer to the same question during a primetime special. The upcoming mediation, which was first reported by The New York Times, is designed to help the sides reach a settlement. Trump's Lawsuit Against Cbs Expands After Release Of '60 Minutes' Transcript, Adds Paramount As Defendant "President Trump is committed to holding those who traffic in fake news, hoaxes, and lies to account. CBS and Paramount committed the worst kind of election interference and fraud in the closing days of the most important presidential election in history. President Trump will pursue this vital matter to its just and rightful conclusion," Ed Paltzik, attorney for President Trump, told Fox News Digital. Read On The Fox News App CBS and Paramount Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump's legal team previously requested "all documents in CBS Interactive's possession, custody, or control, wherever located, including documents in the possession of its representatives, attorneys, or other persons directly or indirectly retained by CBS Interactive, or anyone else acting on its behalf or otherwise subject to its control" pertaining to the "60 Minutes" interview. The demand included all communications between CBS and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Biden administration, the Harris campaign and the DNC from Sept. 22, 2024, through Feb. 11, 2025. Cbs Staffers Upset Over '60 Minutes' Drama, Admit Kamala Harris Interview Edits Were An 'Unforced Error' Any communications pertaining to the lawsuit between CBS and Paramount employees have also been requested, along with any communications about advertising or commercials during the programs that aired the Harris interview. Critics accused CBS News of editing Harris' "word salad" answer to shield the former vice president from further backlash. Earlier this year, FCC Chair Brendan Carr ordered CBS News to hand over the unedited transcript as part of its investigation into whether the network violated the FCC's "news distortion" policy after a complaint was filed. CBS had refused to release the unedited transcript until the FCC got involved. Trump Amps Up The Pressure On Cbs With Massive Discovery Demand As '60 Minutes' Lawsuit Moves Forward The raw transcript and footage showed CBS News had aired only the first half of Harris' response to Whitaker's question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not "listening" to the Biden administration in a preview clip that aired on "Face the Nation," but aired only the second half of her response during the primetime special. Trump's attorneys amended its lawsuit to include multiple excerpts from the unedited transcript in hopes of bolstering their case that CBS News withheld unflattering exchanges in order to help the Democratic nominee. CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global, have insisted the network did nothing wrong. Paramount Global is reportedly considering settling the suit ahead of a planned merger with Skydance Media in hopes of preventing potential retribution by Trump's FCC, which has the authority to halt the multibillion-dollar transaction. Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. Original article source: Trump, CBS parent company set for mediation in $20 billion '60 Minutes' lawsuit
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dem rep claims he was 'embarrassed' by Vance calling out Europeans for censorship, compares him to Hitler
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., condemned Vice President JD Vance's recent remarks in Munich, claiming his defense of free speech was similar to German dictator Adolf Hitler's rhetoric. Vance attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany last week, where he criticized European allies for adopting a "Soviet"-style approach to censorship. "The threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China. It's not any other external actor," he said. "What I worry about is the threat from within the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America." While many praised Vance for the speech, demonstrating American leadership and defense of liberty, others condemned it as a bad look for American politicians on the world stage. Rubio Defends Vance's Munich Speech As Cbs Host Suggests 'Free Speech' Caused The Holocaust When asked by MSNBC host Ali Vitali what the room was like where Vance delivered the speech, Moulton claimed that Americans were "totally embarrassed." Read On The Fox News App "It was one of absolute shock, absolute shock among our European allies, among basically everyone in the audience. I think many of us Americans just felt totally embarrassed as VP Vance delivered really not a speech, but a condescending lecture about the fundamental tenets of democracy to our European allies." He went on to claim that the speech was hypocritical, saying, "he's talked about respecting election results. He talked about not jailing your political opponents. And he talked about not censoring the media." "The problem," he said, "is that this is coming from a man who himself won't acknowledge the 2020 election results. This is a day after Trump said he should jail the opponents - sorry - the members of the January 6th committee, his political opponents. And this administration just kicked the AP out of the Pentagon, and is censoring dozens of words from government publications, keeping Americans in the dark while they take reams of data off the Internet." Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture He went on to claim that in the audience of hundreds only about five people applauded. "I think four of them were Chinese," he said. "It was only the Chinese and the Russians who liked the speech. The Russian foreign minister actually came out and praised the speech. That's the only praise you've heard about what VP Vance had to say." Later in the same interview, he claimed that Vance's rhetoric was like that used in Nazi Germany to "justify the Holocaust," and claimed the right-wing German political party he visited, Alternative for Germany, were neo-Nazis. "He was talking about the enemy within. This is some of the same language that Hitler used to justify the Holocaust," Moulton claimed. "Just after the speech, Vice President Vance went to the old Nazi party headquarters in Munich to meet with the leader of the modern day neo-Nazi party in Germany. So what was bad at Munich could actually get worse. This is a very, very dangerous administration. I think our European allies are just coming to terms with it." During the same visit to Germany, JD Vance toured the Dachau concentration camp, a site that has become a powerful symbol of the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against Jews and other minority groups during World War II. "What happened here should never happen again," Vance said to a group of dignitaries near the entrance to the article source: Dem rep claims he was 'embarrassed' by Vance calling out Europeans for censorship, compares him to Hitler
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tearful chair of Munich Security Conference expresses 'fear' in farewell address after blistering Vance speech
The outgoing chairman of the Munich Security Conference delivered an emotional farewell speech that ended in tears, after he expressed "fear" over Vice President JD Vance's blistering speech to the annual conference on international security policy. "This conference started as a trans-Atlantic conference," German diplomat and chair of the conference Christoph Heusgen said Sunday. "After the speech of Vice President Vance on Friday, we have to fear that our common value base is not that common anymore. I'm very grateful to all those European politicians that spoke out and reaffirmed the values and principles that they are defending. No one did this better than President Zelenskyy, who has been fighting for these values – democracy, freedom, rule of law for the past three years." Heusgen's speech marked the close to his leadership of the Munich Security Conference, as former Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg takes the reins of the international security forum. Heusgen had served as leader of the forum since 2022. Social media critics began posting snippets of Heusgen's speech to X Sunday, claiming the German diplomat and longtime advisor to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel broke down in tears over his frustrations with Vance's blistering speech to the international body. The conference clarified on X that the diplomat reportedly broke down due to his speech being his last as chairman of the forum. Cbs Host Blasted For 'Bonkers' Claim That Nazi Germany 'Weaponized' Free Speech "Our former Chair Christoph Heusgen did not shed a few tears out of 'frustration.' It was his farewell speech as he was leaving the MSC after this year's conference. He was saying goodbye to the team at this very moment. The video snippet here is edited together," the conference posted to X Monday morning. Read On The Fox News App The full video of Heusgen's speech shows him breaking down into tears after warning that "our rules-based international order is under pressure." Vance Jokes About Greta Thunberg As He Goes Scorched Earth On European Censorship "It is clear that our rules-based international order is under pressure," he said. "It is my strong belief… that this multipolar world needs to be based on a single set of norms and principles, on the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This order is easy to disrupt, it's easy to destroy, but it's much harder to rebuild, so let us stick to these values. Let us not reinvent them, but focus on strengthening their consistent application." Hegseth Says He And Vance Are 'On The Same Page' Despite Vp's Remark On Us Troops In Ukraine President Donald Trump has frequently taken shots at the United Nations since his first administration, and said earlier in February that the U.N. was "not being well run" and needs to get its "act together." "Let me conclude. And this becomes difficult," Heusgen said, choking up, before leaving the podium on the stage and hugging various members of the audience. A spokesperson for the conference reiterated to Fox News Digital Monday that Heusgen teared up solely due to the fact that he was ending his three-year term leading the forum and that "many long-time participants and friends were in the Conference Hall to say goodbye" to the diplomat. "I was truly touched by the warm farewell I received from the entire MSC team and so many friends after my last MSC as chairman," Heusgen added in comment to Fox News Digital. "It was a very emotional moment on stage at the end of my term. A video is circulating on the internet that takes this scene of my departure out of context. Unfortunately, this once again shows how the mechanisms of disinformation work." Vance Eviscerates 'Soviet'-style European Censorship In Address To Munich Security Conference His speech to the assembly followed Vance's on Friday, where the U.S. vice president lambasted "Soviet"-style European censorship, joked about left-wing environmentalist Greta Thunberg, and slammed ongoing immigration woes that have throttled European nations and the U.S. under the Biden administration. "Trust me, I say this with all humor," Vance said at one point of his speech. "If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk." Vance also took issue with current immigration practices across the world, calling them "out-of-control migration" policies that include allowing unvetted migrants into foreign nations. Vance's comments followed a suspect identified as an Afghan migrant ramming a car into pedestrians at a trade union demonstration in Munich Thursday, killing a mother and child and injuring at least 37 others. Germany Accuses Elon Musk Of Trying To Interfere In Its National Elections "But why did this happen in the first place?" Vance said in his speech of the Munich car attack. "It's a terrible story, but it's one we've heard way too many times in Europe, and unfortunately, too many times in the United States, as well. An asylum seeker, often a young man in his mid-20s, already known to police, rams a car into a crowd and shatters a community. How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction?" Other world leaders seemingly took issue with Vance's speech during the forum, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying the day after Vance's speech that Germany rejects "outsiders intervening in our democracy." Stateside, conservatives have celebrated Vance's speech as "almost Reaganesque," "pro-American" and pro-free speech on social media and during Fox News interviews. Fox News Digital reached out to the Munich Security Conference on Monday for additional comment regarding Heusgen's speech and did not immediately receive a article source: Tearful chair of Munich Security Conference expresses 'fear' in farewell address after blistering Vance speech
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CBS host blasted for 'bonkers' claim that Nazi Germany 'weaponized' free speech
CBS host Margaret Brennan made what many called an "incredibly dumb" and "deeply ignorant" statement claiming Nazi Germany "weaponized free speech" during her show on Sunday. The "Face the Nation" host clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over Vice President JD Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany last week. After Vance criticized European allies for adopting a "soviet"-style approach to censorship, Brennan implied free speech likely led to the Holocaust. "Well, he was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide," Brennan replied. "He met with the head of a political party that has far-right views and some historic ties to extreme groups. The context of that was changing the tone of it. And you know that." "Well, I have to disagree with you. No- I have- I have to disagree with you," Rubio said as the pair talked over one another. "Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews and they hated minorities, and they had a list of people they hated, but primarily the Jews." Cbs Anchor Chides Trump Statement After Assassination Attempt: 'No Call For Lowering The Temperature' He added, "There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none. There was also no opposition in Nazi Germany. They were the sole and only party that governed that country. So that's not an accurate reflection of history." Read On The Fox News App The exchange quickly went viral with several conservative users calling out Brennan for a "bonkers" take on Nazi Germany. "Wow. Margaret Brennan ACTUALLY claims that the Holocaust happened because 'free speech was weaponized' in Nazi Germany. She's incredibly dumb, a blatant Democrat propagandist or both. Doesn't really matter which it is, @CBSNews should fire her over this," conservative activist Robby Starbuck remarked. Radio host Erick Erickson commented, "Can we just talk about how a prominent American news anchor actually believes Nazi Germany had free speech and that supposed free speech is to blame for the Holocaust? That's both deeply arrogant and deeply ignorant." "Anyone claiming 'free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide' in Nazi Germany is either profoundly ignorant or deliberately lying. The Nazis didn't 'weaponize' free speech, they abolished it. No one pushing nonsense like this should be allowed anywhere near a newsroom," author Hans Mahncke wrote. "This bonkers. Like pull her off the air bonkers," RedState writer Bonchie commented. The Federalist CEO Sean Davis joked, "Welp. I guess that means Trump needs to shut down CBS to prevent another Holocaust. Not the path I would've chosen, but if Margaret Brennan says that allowing CBS to just say whatever it wants will lead to another Holocaust, who am I to argue? Better to be safe and shut down CBS than be sorry you let CBS bring Hitler back." The National Review editor Philip Klein also joked, "If it weren't for the famously robust 1st Amendment protections in Nazi Germany the Jews might have stood a chance." "'[F]ree speech helped cause the holocaust' is a new one," Targeted Victory vice president Logan Dobson remarked. Vance responded to the CBS clip, calling the comments "crazy." "This is a crazy exchange. Does the media really think the holocaust was caused by free speech?" Vance wrote. Cbs Debate Moderators Pummeled For 'Obnoxious' Fact-checking Of Vance: 'A Terrible Look' Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for a comment. The vice president also went viral on Friday with his speech criticizing many European leaders about their cavalier attitude towards censoring ordinary citizens out of fear of "misinformation." "To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like 'misinformation' and 'disinformation,' who simply don't like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election," Vance article source: CBS host blasted for 'bonkers' claim that Nazi Germany 'weaponized' free speech
