Disney and ABC accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday of using the license renewal process to circumvent "judicial review" and inflict "maximal coercive pressure" against the network and company.Disney originally sued the FCC in August over what it claimed was a "retaliatory campaign against ABC" regarding the agency's early broadcast license renewal proceedings for eight ABC-owned stations earlier this year.The stations, according to the FCC, must demonstrate they are operating in the public interest as the agency investigates diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.However, in Disney's latest filing, the company asserted that the FCC could have used "a number of different tools" to investigate Disney and ABC's DEI practices that did not involve forcing stations to renew their licenses years ahead of schedule, suggesting it was done to avoid legal scrutiny.ABC MORE CAUTIOUS OF BOOKING CANDIDATES ON 'THE VIEW' AMID FCC PRESSURE, DISNEY'S FIRST AMENDMENT LAWSUIT SAYSABC and Disney filed another scathing response against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday.
(Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)"These are not merely 'theoretical' tools ...they have been used by the agency for decades," the filing read.
"Yet the agency tried none of those less intrusive tools here, instead taking the unprecedented step of calling for early license renewal of all eight ABC-owned stations at once.Defendants’ own admissions leave no doubt as to why — Defendants sought to inflict maximal coercive pressure on the media company whose speech the Administration sought to curb, while deliberately evading judicial review."Disney cited a court hearing last week in which the FCC was instructed to provide a supplemental filing on alternative methods the agency could have used.
During the hearing, the FCC suggested that additional procedures would have required federal court enforcement."That Defendants openly describe judicial review as an obstacle d...