‘60 Minutes’ in Crisis Over Fear of President Trump

CBS’s flagship show 60 Minutes is reportedly in turmoil — not because of ratings or production woes, but because no one wants to talk.

Producers say potential guests are backing out of interviews over fears of “retribution” after the network’s coverage of President Donald Trump’s controversial pardon of crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance.

“We’ve spoken with dozens of people,” correspondent Scott Pelley told viewers Sunday night. “All of them informed our reporting, but none would appear on camera — for fear of retribution.”

The fear, insiders say, is real.

Trump’s decision to pardon Zhao stunned Washington. The Chinese-born billionaire had pleaded guilty to money-laundering violations just last year, serving four months in prison before striking a reported $2 billion partnership between Binance and Trump’s crypto startup, World Liberty Financial.

The Justice Department once accused Zhao of posing a “significant risk to U.S. national security.” Forbes now estimates his fortune at roughly $88 billion — and his new alliance with Trump has raised alarms about the intertwining of politics, power, and digital currency.

Elizabeth Oyer, the former head of pardons at the Department of Justice, was one of the only officials brave enough to speak on camera. She said she lost her job in March after refusing to approve a Trump-backed request to restore gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, who was convicted of domestic battery.

“I’m very worried about the future of our country,” Oyer said. “The president appears to be selling off pieces of our democracy. The pardon power was never meant to be a reward for friends or financiers.”

Behind the scenes, the culture at CBS News has shifted dramatically. The appointment of Bari Weiss — a self-described “heterodox” commentator often aligned with right-wing politics — has turned the network upside down.

Weiss, 41, rose to power after billionaire David Ellison, the new CBS CEO and son of Trump ally Larry Ellison, tapped her as editor-in-chief. Since taking over, Weiss has canceled multiple shows and fired dozens of staff, including several veteran producers critical of the Trump White House.

“She’s remaking CBS in her image,” one network insider told The Washington Ledger. “There’s pressure to make the coverage friendlier to Trump, or at least less confrontational. And people are terrified of losing their jobs if they push back.”

Trump himself seemed delighted. During a recent 60 Minutes interview with Norah O’Donnell, he called Weiss a “great new leader” and praised Ellison as “a real patriot.” Portions of that interview — including Trump bragging about a multimillion-dollar payout from CBS parent company Paramount and lashing out at critics of Zhao’s pardon — were reportedly cut before broadcast.

Weiss’s rise marks one of the most dramatic power shifts in American media since 2016. A former New York Times columnist who quit in 2020 after accusing the paper of “bullying” and “groupthink,” she went on to launch The Free Press, a Substack-style media outlet popular among anti-woke conservatives.

In October, Ellison’s Skydance Media bought The Free Press for $150 million — paving the way for Weiss’s move to CBS. Regulators approved the acquisition shortly after the network paid Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over 60 Minutes’ editing of a Kamala Harris interview.

Now, under Weiss’s leadership, the country’s most respected newsmagazine is scrambling to find anyone willing to talk on camera about the most powerful man in the world.

“People don’t want to be targeted,” one veteran producer admitted. “When journalists and sources are afraid to speak, democracy is already in trouble.”