MacFarlane said the move will allow him to do ‘independent, unfiltered reporting’
Former CBS News “Justice Correspondent” Scott MacFarlane exited the Tiffany Network earlier this month, saying he sought “independence.” He’s now joining the left-wing media company MeidasTouch, which got its start as an anti-Trump political action committee that spent millions of dollars attacking Republicans and boosting Democrats.
MacFarlane announced the move on Monday, just days after he abruptly quit CBS News, saying, “I look forward to some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals.”
His needs have been met, MacFarlane said on Monday, by MeidasTouch. “I have a new platform for my independent, unfiltered reporting,” he said. “Effective immediately, I am chief Washington correspondent for the MeidasTouch network.”
MacFarlane’s departure from CBS came as the network’s new owners, the Ellison family, and its new editor in chief, Bari Weiss, committed to providing more objective news coverage. MacFarlane was reportedly “disillusioned with the overall direction of the network” under its new management and took particular issue with CBS’s “very brief” coverage of the fifth anniversary of January 6, which MacFarlane was known to report on aggressively.
MacFarlane’s portrayal of MeidasTouch as a beacon of “independent” reporting is at odds with the company’s background.
The group, founded by brothers Brett, Jordy, and Ben Meiselas, launched in 2020 as a political action committee to stop President Donald Trump’s reelection. The organization spent more than $4 million that year on “door to door” canvassing and television ads, according to campaign finance records. In one ad, MeidasTouch accused Trump of committing “mass murder” through his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. MeidasTouch also ran ads in the Georgia special elections in 2020, calling Republican Senate candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue the “grinches of Georgia.”
The PAC faced criticism from some on the Left for being insufficiently helpful to Democrats. A 2021 Rolling Stone piece headlined “The Trouble With MeidasTouch” accused the PAC of “grandiose self-promotion,” arguing that it engaged in “misleading” fundraising practices and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on “ineffective” ads aimed more at “brand-building and fundraising on helping Democrats take back the Senate.” The Meiselas brothers—one of whom, Ben, is known for working with left-wing activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as an attorney and business partner—responded by threatening to sue Rolling Stone.
As MeidasTouch beefed up its media operations—it now claims to be “the fastest growing independent news network in the world”—it changed its PAC’s name to Democracy Defense Action. The PAC remains active, having raised and spent nearly $300,000 in 2025.
Meanwhile, MeidasTouch’s political operation frequently ranks as one of the most popular video news destinations online. The coverage is unabashedly left wing. MeidasTouch’s media offerings include a steady stream of podcasts and YouTube videos featuring dramatic headlines like “WORLD WAR OVER EPSTEIN?!?” and “SCARED FOR HIS LIFE!!!” Added to the lineup will be a daily show called “Scott MacFarlane Reports,” according to MacFarlane.
“MeidasTouch and I have long shared this same philosophy: You don’t platform lies, you don’t platform conspiracy theories, and you don’t allow for the whitewashing of history,” he said in his Monday announcement video.
MacFarlane becomes the latest high-profile television newsman to openly embrace liberal politics after leaving a purportedly objective linear television news operation for an online-only platform.
Former NBC News host Chuck Todd and former CNN anchor Jim Acosta have launched liberal, anti-Trump podcasts since leaving their respective networks. ABC News reporter Terry Moran, who was fired for making anti-Trump social media posts last year, launched a Substack newsletter, Real Patriotism with Terry Moran.
Overtly anti-Trump figures from mainstream cable channels—such as fired CNN host Don Lemon and fired MSNBC host Joy Reid—have also launched their own YouTube and Substack channels.
“Congrats Scott!” Acosta wrote to MacFarlane in a Monday post on X.
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