ABC argued in federal court Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s FCC has “chilled” the network’s free speech by using its “enormous regulatory power to coerce, threaten, punish” coverage the administration doesn’t like.
The Disney-owned network is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the FCC’s order requiring early renewal applications for the eight local stations it owns, even though those licenses don’t expire for years. ABC sued the government over the unusual order in August.
The license renewal order constitutes an extraordinary escalation of the administration’s months-long effort to pressure ABC and Disney, which include Trump’s repeated calls for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC’s investigations into Disney’s DEI practices, ABC’s relationships with its local affiliates and whether “The View” violated the so-called “equal time” rule.
“We’re chilled,” Beth Wilkinson, ABC’s attorney, told U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan during the nearly two-hour hearing. “We monitor everything we do.”
Wilkinson cited ABC’s decision not to air Trump’s July prime-time speech containing unverified election claims, saying the editorial choice provoked “anger within the administration and retaliation from the agency.” During his speech, Trump attacked ABC for not airing it and threatened the network’s station licenses.
The threat of losing these stations’ licenses, Wilkinson said, amounts to a “corporate death sentence” for ABC.
Invoking the French Revolution, Wilkinson likened the administration’s pressure to keeping the network “with its head under the guillotine” while it continues to report, leaving ABC wondering if anything we say will bring that down.
FCC lawyers argued that the U.S. District Court does not have jurisdiction to review the agency’s license renewal order and that ABC is a “regulated entity that is subject to review by its regulator” and cannot circumvent the regulatory process with this First Amendment case.
Trump-aligned FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly claimed the fight was solely over Disney’s DEI practices, although former FCC officials from both parties have cast doubt on that assertion.
At an FCC meeting last week, Carr said Disney’s First Amendment lawsuit was a “very odd choice,” filed “in the wrong court” and “at the wrong time.”
Wilkinson took aim at Carr during the hearing, saying Trump had “total control” over Carr and that the FCC chairman “understands his marching orders.”
The result, she said, was “egregious violations of the U.S. Constitution.”
Judge AliKhan did not issue a ruling Tuesday. She gave both parties until Wednesday October 14 to provide additional documents and responses.
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