Ranking Member Raskin Launches Investigation of CBS “Ombudsman” After CBS Heavily Edits Trump 60 Minutes Interview Following President’s Displeasure with Journalist’s Questions

Washington, D.C. (December 3, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to CBS News Ombudsman Kenneth Weinstein, demanding he investigate evidence that President Donald Trump improperly influenced and coerced CBS News’s editorial decisions during his November 2, 2025, 60 Minutes interview, pressuring the network to censor his own remarks about corruption and financial conflicts of interest.

“It is one thing for CBS to make independent editorial decisions protected by the First Amendment. It is quite another to make edits at the President’s demand out of fear of retribution. The double standard here undermines public trust and demonstrates how Paramount’s capitulation has compromised CBS News’s independence. The American people deserve to know whether their news is shaped by journalistic judgment or by Donald Trump,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

President Trump increasingly appears to be exercising direct control over CBS’s editorial decisions, raising concerns about both journalistic integrity and potential violations of CBS’s First Amendment right to be free from unvarnished government coercion. Trump’s direct editorial control stems from the extraordinary concessions he forced from Paramount during its delayed FCC merger review. After suing CBS over its edits to his opponent’s 2024 interview, President Trump used his office to pressure Paramount during its pending FCC review, extracting a $16 million payment, tens of millions worth of free advertising, and the installation of a newsroom ‘minder’ to monitor supposed bias—the role now held by Mr. Weinstein.

The turmoil inside CBS has been mounting for months after Paramount, CBS’s parent company, settled President Trump’s lawsuit during its delayed merger review and then installed a presidentially demanded newsroom “minder.” 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resignedin April, citing a “loss of independence from corporate,” while longtime correspondent Scott Pelley publicly warned that Paramount’s interference had compromised the show’s integrity. The installation of Mr. Weinstein, a former Hudson Institute president and pro-Trump ideologue with no newsroom background, as CBS’s “ombudsman” marked a sharp departure from industry norms and raised fresh concerns about political supervision of editorial decisions.

The concessions President Trump forced from Paramount, including the settlement, the free advertising, and the installation of a presidentially demanded newsroom “minder,” were on full display during the recent interview. When interviewer Norah O’Donnell asked about his pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to money laundering and whose company struck a $2 billion deal with the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, Trump interrupted and told CBS not to air the exchange. The network complied with Trump’s demand, deleting the segment from both the televised and online versions. He then instructed CBS to remove his own boasts about forcing 60 Minutes to pay him millions in a prior settlement, and those remarks were likewise cut.

These editorial deletions underscore the gravity of the moment for CBS’s new ombudsman, Kenneth Weinstein, who now faces a clear test of independence: whether to defend the network’s journalistic integrity or enable the President’s ongoing efforts to coercively dominate the press.

Trump’s coercion of CBS mirrors a broader campaign to intimidate the press and bend independent institutions to his will. His Administration has extracted multimillion-dollar settlements from ABC News and The Wall Street Journal, sued The Des Moines Register over its election coverage, and threatened the BBC with a billion-dollar defamation suit—all while the Federal Communications Commission has opened investigations into every major broadcaster except Fox News. Together, these acts reflect an alarming pattern of using government power to punish critical reporting and reward compliance.

“The facts here are clear. President Trump directed CBS to edit his own interview after suing the network for editing his opponent’s interview, and CBS complied with his requests and omitted its anchor’s questions about Trump’s pardons,” said Ranking Member Raskin.

Raskin requested a full accounting of CBS’s editorial standards, a written assessment of Trump’s intervention, and all internal guidance or communications regarding the interview.

Click here to read the letter.