ABC tells judge FCC showed "retaliatory motive" by ordering early license review despite "less intrusive" options

ABC's legal team told a federal judge on Monday that, because the FCC ordered the network to submit its station licenses for early renewal rather than choose from a range of less severe options, the agency has only emphasized their retaliatory motive. The network has asked a federal judge to halt the license review process, arguing that it is a […]

ABC's legal team told a federal judge Monday that because the FCC ordered the station to offer its licenses for early renewal rather than a set of less drastic options, the agency was only emphasizing their "retaliatory motive."

The network has asked a federal judge to halt the licensing process, arguing that it would punish First Amendment-protected speech against the news division, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and other content displeased by Donald Trump.

When the FCC went into the early renewal process in April, it said the unusual move was due to the network's failure to respond adequately as part of an investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices that the administration had targeted. In related news, a judge ordered the Trump administration to stop running taxpayer-funded ads.

After a two-hour hearing last week, U.S. District Judge Lauren Ali Khan asked the FCC to file an additional filing outlining other options available to force the network to comply with the document's requests. Watch on Deadline

In its filing on Friday, the FCC, represented by the U.S. attorney in Washington, said the early extension order was "the best tool to carry out the agency's duty."

The agency acknowledged that other options are also available, including issuing administrative subpoenas, imposing monetary penalties and holding hearings.

"Asking whether the Commission might have chosen another means of combating plaintiffs' failure to provide complete answers in anti-discrimination investigations does not answer the central question in this case: whether the agency was lawfully elected to file an early appeal," the government's attorney argued in the case.

The government's attorney stated that tools such as administrative subpoenas and monetary penalties require DOJ enforcement, while the agency began an early renewal process that included a public comment period.

"The defendants' own admissions leave no doubt as to why — the defendants sought to exert maximum coercive pressure on a media company whose speech the government sought to suppress, while deliberately avoiding judicial review," ABC's legal team wrote in a filing Monday.

"Defendants' excuses for not using less intrusive means to address the potential discovery defect only underscore their vindictive motive."

The FCC has asserted that the D.C. Circuit has jurisdiction, not the District Court, but the network will likely have to wait until a decision is made on whether to renew the license. But Beth Wilkinson, who represented the network at last week's hearing, warned that such a delay would chill the network's speech.

The network is seeking a preliminary injunction, but the judge has not said when he will issue a ruling.

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