DOJ opposes an emergency hearing over the FCC’s review of ABC’s licences
Disney asked a federal judge to hold an emergency hearing by Tuesday over the Federal Communications Commission’s move to review the licences of its eight ABC-owned stations. The Justice Department told the court on Thursday that there is no hurry.
The government’s argument is procedural and, on its face, mild. A hearing designation order would simply “set in place a further administrative process in which Disney and ABC would have the opportunity to make their case”, the department said, which is to say nothing irreversible happens on Tuesday.
Disney reads the same process differently. Its lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Washington and assigned to Judge Loren AliKhan, describes the FCC’s conduct as an “extraordinary assault on free speech” and an attempt to “coerce and retaliate” against the network.
The company is seeking a temporary restraining order, which is why the calendar matters to it and not...
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