ABC is “thinking twice” about its editorial decisions amid criticism from President Donald Trump and the FCC’s ongoing investigations, an attorney for the network told a federal judge on Oct. 6.
The hearing centered on the FCC's April order for the Disney-owned ABC to file license renewals ahead of schedule, saying it was investigating "possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination."
Disney and ABC sued the FCC over the matter in August, characterizing the probe as a pretext for targeting speech the Trump administration doesn’t like.
In the Oct. 6 hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington, DC, attorney Beth Wilkinson asked U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan
to immediately block the FCC from continuing its probe while the legal fight continues, citing the “immediate and irreparable” impact it is having on ABC.
Attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel, representing the FCC, argued that the matter was outside of the district court’s jurisdiction and that there was “no reason to believe” the FCC’s early license renewal order was impacting the network’s decision-making.
AliKhan did not decide whether to grant ABC's request to block the FCC’s actions at the hearing. Rather, she asked for additional information from the defendants by Oct. 9 and set an Oct. 14 deadline for the plaintiffs’ response.
Timing of lawsuit questioned
Among the points raised at the hearing was that ABC sued the FCC before the commission had made any final decision on the fate of its licenses.
Wilkinson argued that the circumstances of the case, which she said involve “ongoing, unending threats and retaliation,” meet the legal threshold for preemptively asking a court to intervene.
She alleged that Trump has “total control” over the FCC and Chairman Brendan Carr, noting the timing of Trump’s criticisms and subsequent actions from the commission.
The early license renewal order, for example, came one day after Trump called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel over saying first lady Melania Trump had a “glow like an expectant widow.” After Trump said ABC and NBC’s licenses should be revoked for not broadcasting his July 16 primetime address focused on election security, Carr told Politico the commission would be “looking into” the decision as the ABC proceeding continued.
Georgiev-Remmel said such comments from Carr are merely statements, reiterating that the FCC has not reached a decision and referencing Carr's assertion that the commission is “open-minded” on the matter. He cited a Politico interview in which Carr said he doesn’t “view the FCC as the speech police.”
Wilkinson, though, said the FCC’s actions are having a chilling effect on the network and that it was “making different editorial decisions” because of the administration’s ongoing scrutiny, such as through posting Kimmel’s interview with Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico on YouTube – which the FCC does not have jurisdiction over – instead of broadcasting it on television.
Georgiev-Remmel said at one point that the license renewal process is “not about the licenses,” framing it instead as a tool through which the commission can compile necessary information to ensure broadcast license holders are operating in the public interest. Wilkinson called the remark a “fatal admission” that supported her argument that the FCC’s order was pretextual.
ABC has both supporters, challengers
A number of organizations have gotten involved on both sides of the matter.
Several free speech organizations, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the National Coalition Against Censorship and PEN America, submitted a joint friend-of-the-court brief in September that said “immediate intervention” from the court is “vital to halt this gross misuse of executive power.”
ABC's supporters also include the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which argued in a separate legal filing in September that the ban was "part of a broad series of actions the administration has taken in an effort to bend reporting to the will of the President."
Bruce Brown, the organization's president, echoed those sentiments in an Oct. 5 interview with USA TODAY.
"All you really have to do is ask yourself, if the White House liked the jokes that Jimmy Kimmel told or if it liked what it heard on the interviews on 'The View,' would we be in this situation? And I think the answer is a thunderous no," Brown said.
But the FCC also has its supporters in the ongoing conflict.
America First Legal, a nonprofit law firm co-founded by White House adviser Stephen Miller, said in a Sept. 16 legal filing that ABC “chose to break” the FCC’s broadcast rules and thus “risked the very investigation and potential consequences they now face.” Both the Center for American Rights and the Media Research Center have also filed petitions accusing ABC of political bias and failing to operate in the public interest.
'Extraordinary facts' in case
While the FCC has long had conflicts with broadcasters, experts have described the current battle between the commission and ABC as unique in nature and scope.
John Bergmayer, legal director at the nonprofit advocacy group Public Knowledge, told USA TODAY on Oct. 5 that the “extraordinary facts” of the case, in his view, support the notion that a court should get involved ahead of the FCC’s license renewal decision.
“To me, there’s almost ... no world where the judge looks at this and says, ‘yeah, this is fine. This doesn’t violate the First Amendment,’” he said.
At the same time, he said, there could be concerns about establishing a “roadmap where any company who ... complains that it’s being retaliated against can just go to court and short-circuit the process.”
AliKhan did not provide a timeline for when she may make a decision after the plaintiffs' Oct. 14 deadline.
In addition to the early license renewal proceeding, the FCC has an ongoing inquiry into ABC related to the agency’s equal time rules. The network accused the FCC of "chilling speech ahead of the fast-approaching 2026 general election" in a legal filing on the matter in July.
BrieAnna Frank's role covering First Amendment issues at USA TODAY is made possible by a collaboration among Freedom Forum, Journalism Funding Partners and the USA TODAY Network. Freedom Forum does not provide editorial input. Reach BrieAnna at bjfrank@usatoday.com and @brieannafrank on X and Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ABC 'thinking twice' amid FCC fight, attorney says in lawsuit hearing
