CBS and Paramount have to be quaking in their boots after a federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump's $20 billion lawsuit against the networks can go forward because their motion to dismiss is "moot."

Trump sued CBS for $10 billion in October, claiming that the network deceptively edited a "60 Minutes" interview with his rival then-Vice President Kamala Harris to make her sound more coherent and less rambling.

The editing amounted to election interference, his legal team argued.

Paramount was added to the lawsuit last week after the release of information that showed Paramount also edited Harris's remarks for its streaming platform, and the damages were increased to $20 billion.

"Litany of factual allegations"

U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk denied the motion to dismiss. He wrote in the ruling, "Plaintiffs add a Defendant, a Plaintiff, and a litany of factual allegations and legal claims in their Amended Complaint. Accordingly, the Motions are denied as moot."

CBS wanted to move the case from Texas to New York because that's where CBS and Paramount are based, but it looks like Texas will continue to be the venue for now.

CBS and Paramount can refile their motion to dismiss within 21 days because the original complaint was amended, however.

Kacsmaryk did say that "nothing in this Order shall be construed as a determination on the merits of either Plaintiffs’ or Defendants’ substantive arguments and claims in the Motions or Amended Complaint."

"Word salad"

At issue is a "word salad" answer Harris gave to a question about whether Netanyahu was "listening" to the Biden administration about the war against Hamas in Gaza.

"Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region," was the first part of her answer, but CBS only aired the much more succinct second part.

"We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end," was the part aired in the "60 Minutes" interview.

CBS tried to refuse releasing the unedited transcript until the FCC got involved.

Will they settle?

According to sources, Paramount may be in favor of settling the suit because it fears the Trump-controlled FCC could otherwise block its planned merger with Skydance Media.

A settlement could be quite costly for the networks, but it would send a strong message to the mainstream media that it needs to make an attempt to be less biased against conservatives in the future.