In a stand against former President Donald Trump’s attempts to manipulate media narratives, CBS News has firmly rejected his legal team’s demands for the unedited footage of Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent 60 Minutes interview.

On Wednesday, CBS’s legal counsel shot down Trump’s request, branding it “political” and emphasizing their commitment to fight and defend their editorial integrity in court if necessary. In a pointed letter to Trump’s lawyers, CBS declared that the First Amendment “fiercely protects” the editorial choices made by its flagship program.

Despite being offered a spot on the show, Trump declined to participate, only to lash out at CBS when Harris’s interview aired. He accused the network of deceptively editing her response regarding America’s global influence, alleging that CBS sought to present her in an unfairly positive light. In a quick escalation, his legal team demanded to review the complete interview and related documentation, claiming the show intentionally skewed the narrative against him.

As reported by CNN’s Brian Stelter, CBS’s attorneys delivered a blunt rebuttal to Trump’s team, stating that the network had “no legal basis” for their demands. Gayle C. Sproul, CBS News’s senior vice president for legal affairs, highlighted that Trump had not provided any valid legal justification for his lawsuit or demands.

CBS pointed out that both segments of Harris’s response had been aired, albeit on separate days. The network defended its editorial choices, asserting that the decision to split her answer was standard practice for maintaining clarity in complex interviews. Still, this division sparked skepticism about CBS’s editorial intentions, fueling Trump’s narrative that the media is biased against him.

Trump’s attorney, Edward Paltzik, escalated the rhetoric, accusing CBS of “intentionally misleading the public” and claimed the edits were crafted to confuse voters about Harris’s capabilities. Following this, Trump threatened CBS publicly, demanding the immediate release of the full, unedited transcript and insisting they preserve all related communications.

In response to the uproar, CBS clarified that the segments shown were designed to reflect the clarity and brevity necessary for a diverse and engaging news segment. They emphasized that their editing aimed for accuracy, stating, “When we edit any interview, we strive to be clear, accurate, and on point.”