Paramount to Pay Trump $16M Over 60 Minutes Interview

A rep for President Trump's legal team is calling it "another win for the American people" in the realm of "fake news": Paramount late Tuesday announced that it will pay $16 million to settle Trump's lawsuit over the editing of an October 60 Minutes interview with then-presidential rival Kamala Harris. The payment will cover Trump's legal fees, with the remainder earmarked for his future presidential library. CBS said in a statement that the money would not be paid to Trump "directly or indirectly," reports Reuters. "The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret," the company added. As part of the deal, Paramount will release written transcripts of future 60 Minutes interviews with presidential candidates. Standout details:

• Trump originally sued Paramount for $10 billion, alleging that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Harris in a way that distorted her comments to make her appear more intelligent, thereby favoring the Democratic Party. (He doubled the amount he was seeking in an amended February complaint.)
• As the New York Times explains, the network aired a 21-second clip of Harris answering a question about Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a preview; when the show episode actually aired, it ran a different 7-second portion of her answer. She was accurately quoted in both instances.
• CBS originally described the suit as "completely without merit," and legal experts widely thought CBS would win an eventual court battle. News organizations have broad discretion in editing, and CBS did not report anything factually inaccurate. The Times calls the settlement "an extraordinary concession to a sitting president by a major media organization."
• Still, Paramount chair Shari Redstone told the board she thought it was worth considering a settlement, with some executives concerned the litigation could jeopardize a pending multibillion-dollar sale of Paramount to Skydance, which requires FCC approval, reports the Los Angeles Times. Redstone recused herself from discussions due to her outsize financial interest in the Skydance deal.

• The $16 million sum matches what ABC News paid Trump in a defamation settlement last December. Paramount's board reportedly worried that a higher amount could attract legal trouble from shareholders, who might allege bribery.
• The Freedom of the Press Foundation had vowed to sue on behalf of the company's shareholders should Paramount settle.