Stelter: CBS Choosing to Settle ‘Has the Appearance of a Pay Off’

EXCERPT:

STELTER: "A cynic would say, this is just the price of doing business in the Trump era, and the cynic might be right. The Trump administration has to review and approve Paramount‘s pending merger, and CBS executives believe that Trump, the Trump administration is  going to make the company's life miserable until this lawsuit is made to go away. Now, Trump‘s lawsuit against '60 Minutes' was and is frivolous. There is no evidence CBS doctored any segment. It was just doing basic editing. So CBS would have a very strong case in court. But if they choose not to go to court, if they choose to settle, and our reporting indicates they are trying to settle, this has an appearance of a payoff, meaning CBS would be paying off Trump in order to win his favor and win government approval of the merger. That‘s why CBS News staffers are so concerned."