Trump's Media PLAYBOOK Just Got EXPOSED...

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian cover ABC and parent company Disney suing the FCC, arguing the agency's surprise early review of ABC's eight broadcast licenses is First Amendment retaliation dressed up as a DEI investigation. Brian traces the pattern back to December 2024, when ABC paid Trump $16 million to settle a defamation suit over George Stephanopoulos's on-air comment that Trump was found liable for rape in the E. Jean Carroll case, a claim Brian argues was never actually defamatory given the actual malice standard for public figures. Shant details what triggered this round: a Jimmy Kimmel joke about Melania Trump's "glow like an expectant widow," made two days before the attempted attack at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, after which Trump called the joke incitement and FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened ABC's licenses, saying the network could "do this the easy way or the hard way." Brian and Shant point out the FCC's DEI investigation is also probing whether "The View" counts as a bona fide news program, demanding internal communications and employee political donations, years before any of ABC's licenses are actually due for renewal. Shant's bottom line: this is the same shakedown playbook that worked once, and Trump is betting Disney folds again instead of fighting.

Kabateck LLP: Call 1-844-74-CIVIL for a free case evaluation or visit us at https://www.kbklawyers.com/

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