ABC Accuses Trump Administration of Threatening Its Broadcast Licenses

The TV network slammed the Federal Communications Commission, saying the regulator was targeting its station licenses in a campaign of “unconstitutional retaliation.”

The ABC television network on Thursday issued a rigorous defense of its right to broadcast, accusing the Federal Communications Commission of threatening its station licenses as part of a campaign of “unconstitutional retaliation and coercion.”

Its accusation came in a formal response to a highly unusual move by the F.C.C. in April ordering ABC to apply to renew its broadcasting licenses years before they are set to expire. The request from the agency raised the possibility that the Trump administration would seek to strip one of the nation’s original broadcasters of its television stations.