WASHINGTON—The Campaign for Accountability has filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the Maryland Bar Counsel asking them to launch a thorough investigation into actions by FCC Chair Brendan Carr in his handling of the Jimmy Kimmel controversy.
“By making explicit threats against Disney as well as ABC broadcasters, who currently have business pending before the FCC, Mr. Carr may have violated FCC law and the First Amendment," CfA executive director Michelle Kuppersmith said in a statement. "It is incumbent on bar counsel in both the District of Columbia and Maryland to investigate whether Mr. Carr’s actions also may have violated the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
“Mr. Carr’s actions undermine public trust in not only the agency he leads, but in government neutrality across the board," he added. "We implore the DC and Maryland Bar Counsels to conduct thorough investigations into Mr. Carr’s conduct and impose any appropriate disciplinary measures.”
Carr’s condemnation of remarks by Jimmy regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk and his threats made during a podcast interview to yank broadcast licenses of stations airing the show was quickly followed by two station groups, Nexstar and Sinclair, announcing they would preempt the show. That same day ABC announced that it was indefinitely suspending the late night talk show.
Although the show returned to ABC's schedule on Sept. 23, both Nexstar and Sinclair continue to preempt the program.
Since then Carr has praised both station groups for their actions.
Democrats just keep digging themselves a deeper & deeper hole on Kimmel.They simply can’t stand that local TV stations—for the first time in years—stood up to a national programmer & chose to exercise their lawful right to preempt programming.We need to keep empowering local… pic.twitter.com/kgxWmQFRxlSeptember 23, 2025
Carr's actions and threats were strongly backed by President Trump but condemned by the FCC’s lone Democrat, Congressional Democrats and some Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Mitch McConnel. Cruz called Carr’s actions “dangerous as hell’ and compared them to a mafia extortion scheme “right out of ‘Goodfellas.’”
“Mr. Carr’s conduct appears to constitute a serious breach of his ethical obligations as both a lawyer and a public official,” the complaint said. “His use of his position to pressure regulated broadcasters to drop a show featuring a critic of the Trump administration and conservative politics, and to suggest airing other programs that include political content with which he does not agree may pose similar risks for broadcasters, violates constitutional protections and undermines public trust in government neutrality. Therefore, Campaign for Accountability respectfully requests that the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the Maryland Bar Counsel conduct a thorough investigation into Mr. Carr’s conduct and impose any appropriate disciplinary measures.
More specifically, the watchdog group asserted that “Mr. Carr’s recent actions—invoking his regulatory authority to publicly demand ABC/Disney terminate late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for his commentary, threatening to investigate broadcasters that air political content with which Mr. Carr disagrees, and inaccurately claiming certain content constitutes news distortion—may violate numerous Rules [of professional conduct]. Mr. Carr’s actions implicate Rule 8.4(d) (engaging in conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice), Rule 8.4(e) (stating or implying an ability to improperly influence a government agency or official), and Rule 4.4(a) (using means that serve no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person).”
The complaint also noted that "Mr. Carr’s success in alarming broadcasters that their licenses might be at risk and coercing ABC into dropping Mr. Kimmel’s show appears to have emboldened him to take on other programs airing content that does not align with his political views. In a conversation with a conservative podcast host, Mr. Carr explained that the FCC was now `pursuing an agenda that I think is the right one. We are reinvigorating the public interest standard for broadcasters.' Mr. Carr also said it would be `worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether [ABC’s] ‘The View’ and some of these other programs [NBC’s Seth Meyers’ and Jimmy Fallon’s late night shows] that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs and are therefore exempt from the [FCC’s] equal opportunity regime.'"
TV Tech has reached out to the FCC for a reaction and will add that when it is received.
The full complaint is available here.
