ABC Attorney: 'We Are Watching Everything We Do"

An ABC lawyer told a federal judge Tuesday that the network is already tempering its midterm election coverage because of threats from President Donald Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr.

Beth Wilkinson, arguing for ABC before U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, said editorial decisions are being affected now, weeks before the election. “We sit with our head on the guillotine,” she said, calling the risk of losing broadcast licenses a “corporate death penalty” for eight major-market stations owned by ABC’s parent, Disney. “Our editorial decisions are being affected right now,” she said. “We are watching everything that we do.”

Wilkinson asked the judge to block the FCC from continuing an early review of those station licenses, which the commission ordered in April, years ahead of schedule. She said the review, combined with Trump’s repeated calls to revoke ABC’s licenses, is chilling coverage, including decisions about airing the president’s speeches and booking political candidates. She pointed to ABC’s choice not to air a late-night interview with Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico and to put it on YouTube instead.

ABC and Disney sued the FCC and Carr in August, arguing the review is unconstitutional retaliation for content Trump dislikes. The early review came a day after Trump objected to a Jimmy Kimmel joke. After ABC declined to carry a July 16 primetime address by Trump live, the president called for ABC and NBC to lose their licenses; ABC later streamed the speech, which it said it ordinarily would not have done.

Carr has said the review stems from a dispute over documents in an investigation of Disney’s diversity hiring practices, not ABC’s journalism. A Justice Department lawyer told the judge the commission has not reached a decision and that the district court may lack jurisdiction. AliKhan did not rule. She ordered further briefs by Oct. 9 from the government and Oct. 14 from ABC.