CBS News staffers revolt over network 'carrying water' for Trump admin

A recent CBS News story about injuries suffered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross before he fatally shot U.S. citizen Renee Good has caused an internal uproar among employees.

That's according to a Thursday article in the Guardian, which reported that a Wednesday report from the network — in which two unnamed U.S. officials claimed Ross suffered "internal bleeding" following his killing of Good — has prompted "huge internal concern" in CBS' newsroom. Some staffers were openly curious about the sourcing that led to the report, claiming President Donald Trump's administration specifically sought out CBS to spread its preferred narrative.

"There was big internal dissension about the ‘internal bleeding’ report here last night," a CBS News employee anonymously confided to the Guardian. "It was viewed as a thinly-veiled, anonymous leak by [the Trump administration] to someone who’d carry it online."

"Felt to many here like we were carrying water for the admin’s justifying of the shooting to keep our access to our sources," a separate unnamed CBS staffer told the Guardian."

Prior to publication, one medical news producer noted that "it would be helpful to ask what type of treatment he received," and whether Ross had to have surgery or any other type of treatment for his injuries. CBS News senior vice president David Reiter wrote in an email: "I'm no doctor, but internal bleeding is a very broad term and can range in severity."

"A bruise is internal bleeding. But it can also be something serious," Reiter added. "We do know that the ICE agent walked away from the incident — we have that on camera."

According to the Guardian, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss "expressed a high level of interest in the story on an editorial call Wednesday morning." A network spokesperson defended the internal bleeding report, stating that CBS "went through its rigorous editorial process and decided it was reportable based on the reporting, the reporters and the sourcing."

Weiss — a conservative former New York Times opinion columnist who was installed atop the network's news division after it was acquired by Trump ally David Ellison (the son of Trump donor Larry Ellison) — recently made headlines after killing a thoroughly reported 60 Minutes segment about El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison. Weiss defended pulling the story, saying that it needed quotes from Trump administration personnel, though leading administration figures had already declined to comment. A Canadian broadcaster aired the report after Weiss pulled it, leading it to eventually spread across the internet.

Click here to read the Guardian's full report.