ABC asks federal judge to block FCC

An attorney for Disney's ABC asked a federal judge on Tuesday to block the Federal Communications Commission from conducting an early review of the network's broadcast licenses, saying the regulatory proceeding was initiated to retaliate against ABC over content that offended the Trump administration.

Those licenses were originally scheduled for renewal between 2028 and 2031.

Wilkinson at one point used the French Revolution to illustrate the FCC's actions, arguing the agency was effectively forcing the broadcast company to sit with its "head on a guillotine" while it awaits a decision about the licenses.

In her remarks, she highlighted a speech that Mr. Trump made at the White House in July, in which he chastised ABC and NBC for not broadcasting the speech and called for their licenses to be revoked. Those remarks, she said, represented a "direct threat" to her client.

"People may not like some of ABC's coverage and the president is entitled to it, but the public has the right to be exposed to different speech and viewpoints," she said.

ABC "refused to adequately respond" to the FCC's anti-discrimination probe, said Dimitar Georgiev-Remme, one of the Justice Department's attorneys representing the FCC in the case. "The commission decided to look for information that it needed by calling for early renewal of plaintiffs' broadcast license."

The Justice Department argues that the regulatory process that governs license renewals would require a company to appeal an FCC order to the full commission. After that, any adverse decision can only be heard by a federal appellate court — and not a U.S. district court.

In one such example of harm, Wilkinson said the network has changed the ways in which it covers political topics, noting that the talk show "The View" has changed how it selects the clips it uses in the show.

Wilkinson said that even if the company had sought to appeal the April decision to initiate an early license renewal, the commission has the power to sit on the matter indefinitely.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, a Biden appointee, at times appeared skeptical at the government's claim that the FCC initiated the early license renewal process in order to get more information for its anti-discrimination investigation.

When she asked the Justice Department what other llegal tools it has at its disposal to compel ABC to provide the requested data, Georgiev-Remme could not provide an immediate answer, prompting the judge to ask the government to file a brief addressing her question by Oct. 9.

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