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Bill Owens, the producer of the CBS news program “60 Minutes” is stepping down following backlash after a lawsuit from President Donald Trump over the controversial editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Owens released a statement concerning his resignation on Tuesday.
“My 60 Minutes priorities have always been clear. Maybe not smart, but clear,” Owens wrote to staff in a note obtained by The Hill.
“Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,” he continued. “To make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience.”
According to a report by The New York Times, Owens stated in a memo, “So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward.”
CBS News President Wendy McMahon also addressed Owens’ resignation on Tuesday.
“Standing behind what [Owens] stood for was an easy decision for me, and I never took for granted that he did the same for me,” McMahon said.
Trump shared a copy of a letter from his lawyer on his Truth Social account after it was sent to CBS in October.
“Such manipulative editing was aimed at causing confusion among the electorate regarding Vice President Kamala Harris’s abilities, intelligence, and appeal,” Trump lawyer Edward Andrew Paltzik wrote in the letter.
“News organizations such as CBS have a responsibility to accurately represent the truth of events, not distort an interview to try and make their preferred candidate appear coherent and decisive, which Harris most certainly is not. Due to CBS’ actions, the public cannot distinguish which Kamala Harris they are seeing: the candidate or the puppet of a behind-the-scenes editor,” it continued.
Trump demanded that the full transcript be released to the public and called on CBS to preserve all documents and communications about the interview.
“The executives and producers at CBS, and 60 Minutes in particular, are unquestionably aware that the purpose behind editing the Interview was to confuse the electorate and portray the Vice President in a better light than a full, unedited transcript would reveal,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
“Responsible news sources must be held accountable to the highest standards,” the letter added.