In two complaints filed last week, Donald Trump contends that CBS and The Washington Post broke the law by covering the presidential election in ways he did not like. His arguments, which seek to punish the news outlets for constitutionally protected activity via legal theories that are fanciful at best, are consistent with Trump's long history of disregarding the First Amendment by treating speech that offends him as grounds for civil damages, regulatory sanctions, or even incarceration.
Trump's lawsuit against CBS, which he filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, seeks $10 billion in damages based on a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that he says was edited to make her seem smarter than she actually is. He claims the network's editing violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).
