NAB Breaks Silence on Trump License Threats
NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt denounced threats of government action against broadcast licenses after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sent CBS legal threats and a court affidavit indicated the Florida Governor's Office was behind that state’s efforts to prosecute TV stations that carried an abortion rights ad (see 2410180050). Although Trump has publicly called for federal action against broadcast licenses nearly every other week since his September debate with the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, NAB was silent on the issue until now.
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“From our country’s beginning, the right of the press to challenge the government, root out corruption and speak freely without fear of recrimination has been central to our democracy,” said NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt in an emailed statement Tuesday. “The threat from any politician to revoke a broadcast license simply because they disagree with the station’s content undermines this basic freedom.”
Trump first threatened CBS after its 60 Minutes interview with Harris ran Oct. 7, just a few weeks after he issued a string of similar calls for action against ABC's broadcast license. In October 2017, when as president Trump made a similar threat against NBC, then-NAB CEO Gordon Smith responded the same day with a release that LeGeyt’s statement appears to echo. “The founders of our nation set as a cornerstone of our democracy the First Amendment, forever enshrining and protecting freedom of the press,” said the 2017 release. “It is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting of a journalist.”
Similar to NAB, the nation's largest broadcasters have refrained from commenting on Trump’s threats against licenses. CBS’ 60 Minutes didn’t issue a statement until this week, while large groups Nexstar and Gray Television have repeatedly declined to comment on the matter. Sinclair and E.W. Scripps didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Trump continued his attacks on CBS Monday, posting a letter on Truth Social that his attorney sent CBS demanding a transcript of the Harris interview and suggesting a future lawsuit. “In contemplation of possible litigation we demand that you preserve all communication and documents” related to the interview and “refrain from destroying any relevant communications,” the letter said. CBS didn’t comment. The letter cites the recent news distortion complaint the Center for American Rights filed against CBS (see 2410170051), and comments from FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington that “it would not be inappropriate” for the FCC to consider the matter.
Communications attorneys told us in interviews that the lack of response from NAB and individual broadcasters to overt threats against TV licenses likely stems from concerns about appearing partisan. Trade associations such as the National Rifle Association take a partisan stance because it serves their members and positions, but there isn’t such a clear divide for most broadcast issues, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Frank Montero. The membership of state broadcast associations is “all over the map” politically, he said. NAB likely gains little from speaking out, and could hurt its traction with Republicans in Congress, said another broadcast attorney.
The association was likely forced to speak publicly now because of the increasing visibility of the issue from Trump’s frequent statements and Florida’s recent similar threats against stations, some attorneys told us. On Monday, a former Florida Department of Health general counsel revealed in an affidavit that he resigned after the Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis (R) directed that he send additional letters threatening the stations with prosecution. The former staffer, attorney John Wilson, sent stations the initial threat letters. Wilson was one of the targets in a lawsuit that abortion rights advocacy group Floridians Defending Freedom filed. He was dropped as a target of the litigation Monday. NAB likely expected Trump’s threats against stations to blow over as they have in the past but was forced to speak out in the face of the multiplying threats to stations, said Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld.
The news distortion complaint and subsequent litigation from it aren’t likely to go far, Feld said. The complaint is “procedurally defective” and goes “very deep into First Amendment country,” he said. A news organization's editorial decisions are protected speech, Feld said. Challenges to station licenses ultimately end up in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is unlikely to deviate from precedent on this issue, Feld said. That doesn’t mean a future FCC couldn’t use provisions such as the news distortion rules against broadcasters in a second Trump administration, Feld noted. Although hearing proceedings and other disciplinary actions against broadcasters over their content would likely be knocked down in the courts eventually, they would represent a serious expense and have a substantial chilling effect, Feld predicted. “There are ways to weaponize the FCC.”