RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 11 sourcesAfter months of the FCC saying that it was going to put ABC’s broadcasting licenses up for early renewal, the network has finally filed a lawsuit against the FCC, claiming that the agency’s investigations and various hoops it has manufactured are part of a “retaliatory campaign” to stop the network’s free speech. This is per Deadline , which calls the lawsuit “unprecedented.” The lawsuit seeks to halt the early license renewal process that FCC chair Brendan Carr demanded eight of its stations undergo earlier this year. Reads the lawsuit, “Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.”
“Any FCC adjudication would be a charade,” continues the lawsuit. “The Commission cannot lawfully grant renewal this early in the license terms—the only outcomes on the table are adverse to Plaintiffs. At one extreme, the Commission may intentionally prolong the adjudicative process, miring ABC in years of costly litigation, with the threat of adverse action ever present and with every editorial judgment shadowed by the prospect of provoking the Administration into further retaliation.”
ABC’s lawsuit comes before the FCC has really begun the adjudication process of examining the station licenses, though Deadline reports that those could begin as soon as this month. In addition to the temporary restraining order to stop action on the license renewals, ABC is also seeking an order to stop the FCC from continuing “to coerce or threaten” it “with sanctions in an effort to alter their exercise of editorial discretion.”
The battle between ABC and the FCC has been raging in earnest for almost a year at this point. Last September, Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air for a few days after comments in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death; since then, the FCC has been especially bullish about poking around at The View .
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