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CBS was about to show you what your government did with your tax dollars. This past weekend, they killed the investigation. Here's what you'll never see:

“The nightmare began the moment they took me off the plane.”

Twenty-six-year-old Gonzalo Y. thought he was being deported to Venezuela. He landed in El Salvador. Guards forced him to kneel with his head down. When he said he had a spine problem and couldn’t keep his head low, an officer struck him with a baton in the back of the neck. On the bus to CECOT prison, guards beat him again. At the entrance, they shaved his head while he knelt. The prison director told them: “You have arrived in hell. Here you will spend the rest of your lives.”

Daniel B., 24, choked on his own blood after guards punched his face until his nose broke and stayed crooked. Guards beat them in hallways, in cells, and in a punishment, zone called “the Island” where prisoners spend days without food or water. They were beaten almost daily for four months. One hundred fifty-six men packed into cells designed for 80, with two toilets and no mattresses. Some guards used batons for sexual assault. Three men described it to researchers. More stayed silent from shame.

This happened to 238 Venezuelan men the Trump administration claimed were gang members. Federal judge James Boasberg blocked the deportations in March 2025, yet the planes left anyway. The U.S. government paid El Salvador $4.7 million to keep them there.

Human Rights Watch spent six months interviewing 40 survivors. Their November 12, 2025, report documented systematic torture. The Independent Forensic Expert Group analyzed photographs of injuries and confirmed the claims. After four months, the men were released in a July 18, 2025, prisoner swap. Trump never provided evidence they were gang members. Human Rights Watch found approximately 50% had no criminal record. Only 3% had been convicted of violent or potentially violent offenses in the United States. At least 62 asylum seekers were removed during pending cases.

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This past weekend, CBS killed a story that would have shown America the full scope of what was done in its name.

60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spent months reporting this investigation. CBS screened it five times. CBS lawyers cleared it. Standards and Practices approved it. The network promoted it for days. It was scheduled to air Sunday night, December 22. Everything was ready.

This past weekend, Bari Weiss raised questions. By Monday, the investigation was dead and Alfonsi’s email had leaked to newsrooms across America:

“If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a kill switch for any reporting they find inconvenient.”

Here’s the nail in the coffin: the pattern is now complete.

ABC paid Trump $15 million in December 2024 after he sued for defamation over anchor George Stephanopoulos saying Trump had been found liable for rape. (A New York jury had found him liable for sexual assault but rejected the rape count.) Legal experts called the case weak. ABC settled.

CBS paid Trump $16 million in July 2025 after he sued over how 60 Minutes edited a Kamala Harris interview. Legal experts said the editing was standard practice and CBS would likely prevail in court. CBS settled anyway.

Both settlements installed new editorial policies. Both networks now treat government participation as necessary for airing critical stories. This past weekend, CBS used that policy to kill a torture investigation because the White House refused to comment.

The kill switch works. They’ve used it. Other networks are watching.

Follow the money:

David Ellison runs Paramount. His father Larry Ellison built Oracle and is worth approximately $240 billion. Larry Ellison is a Trump donor and ally. On October 6, 2025, David paid $150 million to acquire Bari Weiss’s publication The Free Press and installed her as CBS News editor-in-chief. Weiss had zero news television experiences.

CBS president Wendy McMahon resigned May 19, 2025, writing “It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward.” 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned in April 2025. Both exits came after the Trump settlement.

Paramount is attempting a $108.4 billion hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The Warner Bros. Discovery board rejected the bid December 17, 2025. Paramount launched a hostile tender offer directly to shareholders on December 8. The deal requires Trump administration FCC approval for broadcast licenses and DOJ approval for antitrust clearance.

December 19, 2025: Trump tells a rally that CBS ownership loves him, but 60 Minutes treats him badly under new management.

December 21-22, 2025: CBS kills the torture investigation because the White House declined to comment.

This is how the system works now:

Trump sues networks with legally weak cases. The networks settle because they need FCC licenses to broadcast and DOJ clearance for mergers. Trump controls both agencies through his appointees. The settlements install editorial policies requiring government participation. When the administration stays silent, investigations die.

This past weekend proved the system works.

Artwork: Eclipse of the Sun (1926) by George Grosz. Oil on canvas. Public domain. Collection of the Heckscher Museum of Art.

Alfonsi wrote this to her colleagues:

“These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrust us with their accounts. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.

Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision but a political one.

If the standard for airing a story becomes ‘the government must agree to be interviewed,’ then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast.

Government silence is a statement, not a veto. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.”

Five screenings cleared the story. Everything was ready. The only problem: the White House stayed silent. That silence killed the investigation.

Government officials now know refusing comment kills stories about them.

They don’t need to threaten journalists. They don’t need to sue. They stay silent and editors kill investigations to avoid regulatory retaliation. This past weekend made this visible. How many investigations died in the past six months that never reached viewers? How many reporters stopped pitching stories they knew editors would reject? How many editors stopped assigning stories they knew wouldn’t air?

America ranks 55th in the world for press freedom according to Reporters Without Borders, tied with Senegal. We rank below Romania (48), Ghana (30), Botswana (35), Costa Rica (5), Jamaica (11), Uruguay (18). We’ve fallen 26 places since 2016, when we ranked 29th globally. Countries where government silence kills investigations: Russia (162), China (172), Turkey (158), Venezuela (156).

This past weekend, we joined that list.

These companies funded what happened this past weekend:

Every advertiser paid millions in 2025 to reach 60 Minutes viewers. Their dollars fund a network that kills investigations when the government refuses to comment.

Contact them right now. Tell them you’re boycotting until CBS airs the CECOT investigation:

These companies funded what happened this past weekend. Pick THREE and contact them right now:

Top Targets:

· Pfizer: Tweet @Pfizer or email investor.relations@pfizer.com

· Procter & Gamble (Tide, Crest, Pampers): Tweet @ProcterGamble

· Amazon: Tweet @Amazon or text 888-280-4331

· Walmart: Tweet @Walmart with #AirTheCECOTStory

· Apple: Tweet @Apple

· Verizon: Tweet @Verizon

· General Motors: Tweet @GM

· Johnson & Johnson: Tweet @JNJNews

Your message: “I’m boycotting your products until CBS airs the CECOT torture investigation killed December 21, 2025. Your advertising dollars fund government censorship. #AirTheCECOTStory”

Do this right now:

Cancel Paramount+ and CBS All Access subscriptions immediately.

Email 60 Minutes at 60m@cbsnews.com. Subject: “Air the CECOT investigation.” Message: “Sharyn Alfonsi reported it. CBS cleared it five times. The men in CECOT risked their lives to speak. Air it now.”

Share Alfonsi’s email everywhere. Share this article on every platform. Use #TheNailInTheCoffin and #AirTheCECOTStory.

Tell your representatives Paramount should not receive regulatory approval for a $108.4 billion hostile takeover after killing journalism to please Trump.

Subscribe to journalists who don’t need FCC licenses or merger approvals to publish.

What this past weekend means:

The precedent is set. ABC settled. CBS settled. Both installed the same policy. This past weekend, CBS used it. Other networks watched. They’re learning. They’re already complying.

Government officials stay silent, and investigations die. That’s the system now, and this past weekend it proved it works.

Every major network needs federal approval to operate. Trump controls those approvals through FCC chairman Brendan Carr and the DOJ. The networks understand: cooperate or lose everything.

The men in CECOT waited four months in hell for someone to tell their story.

Human Rights Watch documented it. The Independent Forensic Expert Group confirmed it. CBS cleared it five times. Sharyn Alfonsi reported it. The government stayed silent.

This past weekend, Bari Weiss killed it.

That’s the nail. American journalism as an independent check on government power is dead. What exists now: legacy media that kills investigations when officials refuse to comment, or independent journalism that publishes despite government silence.

Mark, this date: December 21, 2025.

Within six months, another major network will kill another Trump administration investigation using this exact excuse. Government officials will refuse to comment. Editors will cite “insufficient participation.” The story will die. Other networks will watch and learn.

Screenshot this prediction. Remember this past weekend was when the pattern became undeniable. This was the nail in the coffin.

Force CBS to air it. Boycott every advertiser until they do. Cancel your subscriptions today. Email 60 Minutes now. Share this everywhere. Contact the companies above. Make them prove journalism isn’t dead.

Three days ago, this investigation was ready. Today, it’s dead because the White House wouldn’t comment. Tomorrow, another investigation dies for the same reason. Next week, another. Next month, another.

This past weekend closed the coffin on legacy media. You have 24 hours to force CBS to air this story and prove something in legacy media is still worth saving. After that, independent journalism becomes the only option.

Every investigation you read here costs me hours of research, meticulous fact-checking, and deep analysis. I publish most of this work free, hoping readers will see its value and upgrade. But free articles aren’t converting to paid subscriptions at the rate needed to sustain this level of journalism. Without subscriber support, I cannot continue producing investigations at this depth. Annual subscriptions are currently 20% off for a limited time.

SOURCES

Breaking Story (December 21-22, 2025):

CECOT Deportations & Torture Documentation:

Bari Weiss Appointment & Paramount Acquisition:

Trump-Paramount Settlement:

Warner Bros. Discovery Hostile Takeover Bid:

Press Freedom Rankings: