The departure of two top executives at CBS News in recent weeks has shaken journalists at the outlet and fueled speculation the network’s corporate parent will soon settle a high-profile lawsuit brought against the company by President Trump.

The resignation this week of CBS President Wendy McMahon came just weeks after that of “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens.

The back-to-back resignations served as the latest sign that a brooding crisis for one of the country’s largest and oldest broadcast news networks is reaching an inflection point.

Though they did not mention Trump’s lawsuit explicitly as they announced plans to leave, McMahon and Owens made clear they were convinced they could no longer independently lead CBS, which has come under increased legal and regulatory threat from Trump’s administration.

“In some ways, it feels like Trump has already won this fight,” one Republican political operative told The Hill this week. “He wants to be covered positively by all of these networks, and this is a pretty clear sign his plan to intimidate is working.”

Trump sued CBS News and “60 Minutes” last fall over an interview the program aired with former Vice President Kamala Harris just days before she faced off with Trump in the November election.

As part of his $10 billion suit, the president’s attorneys argued producers for the program intentionally edited portions of the interview with Harris to cast her in a more positive, coherent light.

CBS released a full transcript of the interview weeks later after a pressure campaign from Trump and his allies defending their editing and calling the suit “without merit.”

© The Hill