DHS and Center for American Rights Target CBS Over Noem Interview

“CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth,” Noem said.

In a letter to the FCC Tuesday, CAR said the matter highlights the need for CBS to fulfill its promise to appoint a news ombudsman, pointing out that Chairman Brendan Carr has previously cautioned other outlets about their coverage of Abrego Garcia (see 2504210048). “You warned the networks once already,” said CAR. “Yet the networks have ignored it as the Abrego Garcia saga has continued to unfold.”

CBS released the full transcript of the interview Sunday, as well as a full-length video version on YouTube. “Secretary Noem’s 'Face The Nation' interview was edited for time and met all CBS News standards," a CBS spokesperson said in an email. The full version is roughly four minutes longer than the original that aired.

In his letter Tuesday to Carr, Center for American Rights President Daniel Suhr highlighted other edits of Face the Nation interviews and what he called “hostile and misleading” questions for administration officials. The news ombudsman promised by Paramount Global in the run-up to the Skydance/Paramount merger approval is a “simple solution” to concerns about Face the Nation’s coverage, Suhr said. CBS “needs to move expeditiously to fulfill its promise to appoint a real ombudsman -- independent and empowered -- to conduct a prompt review when an important guest with significant media experience like a cabinet secretary accuses a CBS News program of 'shamefully' and 'deceptively' editing an interview.”

A previous letter from Suhr prompted the current news distortion proceeding against CBS. In a post Friday on X, Carr said the FCC’s investigations of major broadcast networks were “a good start.”

"Much like with the baseless complaint against 60 Minutes, this is yet another effort by this Administration to pursue its campaign of censorship and control," said FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in an emailed statement. "CBS followed a long-established journalistic practice of editing content for clarity and brevity, which happens in virtually every recorded interview by any news network. It’s clear the goal here is for this Administration to paint itself as the victim of the censorship tactics they themselves employ, and through this chilling effect intimidate others who dare to question their narratives and hold them to account for their abuses.”

In the DHS release, the agency appears to object to every cut from Noem’s interview but focuses on her statements about Abrego Garcia. In the version that ran on Face the Nation, Noem said: “This individual does have criminal charges pending. He has charges pending against him civilly as well, and the one thing that we will continue to do is to make sure that he doesn't walk free in the United States of America.”

In the full interview, Noem went on to detail allegations against Abrego Garcia, including describing him as “a known human smuggler, MS-13 gang member, an individual who was a wife beater, and someone who was so perverted that he solicited nude photos from minors.” That portion of her answer was cut for TV.

The edited interview also cut a portion of an answer on immigration arrests, in which she described the detainees as human traffickers, as well as an entire question and answer about Immigration and Customs Enforcement hiring. The DHS release highlighted every exclusion, including edits that cut Noem’s hopes that every DHS employee "gets up every day wanting to make America safer" and her description of herself as “a lobbyist for the American taxpayer.” CBS “removed more than 23% of Secretary Noem’s answers exposing the truth about criminal illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, President Donald Trump’s lawful actions to protect the American people, and Secretary Noem’s commitment to fight on behalf of the American people and their tax dollars,” DHS said.

Face the Nation’s edits to the interview appear to be the result of a normal editing process, University of Southern California journalism professor Gabriel Kahn said in an interview. “The practice that the news organization engaged in seems to be the way in which news organizations have functioned for decades.” Noem, who previously served in Congress and as governor of South Dakota, has likely been interviewed and edited numerous times, Kahn noted. She “knows full well how interviews are edited for length and newsworthiness. This is simply a tactic to threaten and bring to heel news organizations.”

Government officials are likely to use such tactics more frequently in the wake of the Trump administration’s settlements with CBS and ABC, Kahn said. “It’s actually kind of easy money.”

On Sunday, Trump criticized ABC in a post on Truth Social for airing commentary from Democratic Party political strategist Donna Brazile. ABC “just paid me $16,000,000 for ‘inaccurate’ reporting, now they should pay me more!!!” he said.

“Noem's complaints underscore why news outlets can't settle frivolous lawsuits,” said Seth Stern, the Freedom of the Press Foundation's advocacy director, in an email. Stern has been a vocal opponent of Carr and filed a disciplinary complaint against him for his handling of the Skydance/Paramount deal (see 2507290060). “Now the door is wide open for government officials to question every editing decision news outlets make, whether to shorten an interview for time or to not air lies and nonsense,” he said Tuesday.