No court ruling yet — it's still inside the FCC. This hasn't reached a federal judge. Right now it's playing out through the FCC's own administrative process:
ABC filed its "reply comments" on July 7 defending "The View" as a bona fide news program under a 2002 FCC precedent, arguing the government can't "sit in an editor's chair."
More than 77,000 public comments were submitted, with an undeniable majority backing "The View" and free speech, according to ABC's filing.
ABC is also arguing the FCC's selective focus — going after daytime/late-night TV while leaving talk radio alone — isn't evenhanded regulation.
The FCC pushed back through a spokesperson, saying ABC should focus on compliance rather than "misleading the public."
There's a separate wrinkle worth watching: the sole Democratic FCC commissioner, Anna Gomez, has alleged the agency offered other ABC affiliates amnesty for late equal-time disclosures but withheld that same offer from the Disney-owned station now under investigation — which, if it holds up, would be a much sharper claim of selective/unequal treatment than the broader "bias" argument.
Separately, ABC's local station license renewals are also under review, with public opposition to those due July 29 and replies due in August.