By Dawn Chmielewski and David Shepardson

(Reuters) -Bill Owens, the long-time executive producer of CBS News’ "60 Minutes," is stepping down over concerns about editorial independence, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Owens’ departure follows a months-long legal battle with U.S. President Donald Trump, who sued CBS in October over a "60 Minutes" interview with his Democratic rival for the White House, former Vice President Kamala Harris. Earlier this month, the case entered mediation.

"Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it. To make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience," Owens wrote in a note to the "60 Minutes" staff. After defending the show "from every angle, over time with everything I could," he has elected to step aside.

Last week, Trump again attacked "60 Minutes," saying it aired two inaccurate stories about him and he has pressed the Federal Communications Commission to take action.

The FCC (BME: FCC ) is already reviewing whether the Harris interview violated "news distortion" rules. Though the agency is prohibited from censorship or infringing the First Amendment rights of media, broadcasters cannot intentionally distort the news.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in February the commission was in the early stages of its review of the bid by CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, which is seeking agency approval for an $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.

The federal agency has authority over the transaction because it needs to approve the transfer of the broadcast television licenses held by CBS. The deal was extended for 90 days, as the companies await regulatory approval.

Carr said in November the "60 Minutes" complaint was likely to arise during the FCC review of the transaction.

CBS News President and CEO Wendy McMahon lauded Owens’ "unwavering integrity, curiosity, and a deep commitment to the truth" in an email to the staff. She said the news executive, who spent 37 years at CBS News, including 24 years at its premiere news program, would remain with "60 Minutes" in the weeks ahead.

"Working with Bill has been one of the great privileges of my career," McMahon wrote. "Standing behind what he stood for was an easy decision for me, and I never took for granted that he did the same for me."

Katherine Jacobsen, U.S. program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said it was alarming to see a media executive resign because he did not feel he had editorial independence.

"It really speaks to something that we should all be alarmed about, and that is the erosion of media freedom and journalists’ ability to work without fear of retaliation," said Jacobsen.

CBS’s long-running prime time news show became a lightning rod for Trump, who repeatedly assailed the network on the campaign trail over the episode, threatening to revoke CBS’s broadcasting license if elected.

The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Texas, alleges that the network misled viewers by airing two different responses from Harris to a question about the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

CBS said last month that "the transcript and unedited interview footage demonstrate that CBS engaged in commonplace editorial practices - specifically, by deciding what material from a lengthy sit-down interview would air in a time-limited television format."

The FCC’s Carr rejected the idea, telling Reuters an investigation is ongoing. "We’re not close in my view to the position of dismissing that complaint at this point," he said.

The Center for Individual Freedom, Americans for Tax Reform, Taxpayers Protection Alliance and other groups last week called on Carr to reject the complaint, saying an "adverse ruling against CBS would constitute regulatory overreach and advance precedent that can be weaponized by future FCCs."