By David Shepardson and Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) -Paramount Global and President Donald Trump are engaged in “good faith, advanced, settlement negotiations” to resolve a lawsuit filed by Trump against CBS in October, alleging the network deceptively edited a “60 Minutes” interview with then-vice president Kamala Harris.
Lawyers on Monday in a court filing asked a judge in Texas to delay all proceedings until Thursday. Trump has sought $20 billion but a mediator proposed a $20 million settlement, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. The network owned by Paramount previously said the lawsuit is “completely without merit” and asked a judge to dismiss the case.
A lawyer representing Trump, Edward Paltzik, could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman and a lawyer for Paramount Global could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, could not be reached.
CBS-parent Paramount Global is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission for its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who was named chair by Trump on Jan 20, said last week the commission was continuing to review the transaction. The FCC did not make a decision by the 180-day informal deadline in mid-May.
Trump contended CBS sought to “tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party” and the former vice president in the election by airing two different versions of answers Harris gave to a question, while CBS denied any wrongdoing.
In January, Carr reinstated a complaint about the “60 Minutes” Harris interview. 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.”
One Paramount senior executive said the consensus within the company is that the Trump civil suit will be resolved, reflecting a more optimistic view of a settlement.
Paramount holds its annual shareholder meeting on July 2. The election of board members is part of the agenda.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Franklin Paul)
