Key Points:

• A watchdog group has filed a bar complaint alleging FCC Chairman Brendan Carr improperly pressured ABC affiliates to drop “Jimmy Kimmel Live” after comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
• The complaint says Carr’s warnings about fines and license revocation may violate D.C. Bar rules on justice, improper influence, and using tactics that burden third parties.
• It marks the second recent complaint against Carr, following FPF’s July filing alleging political pressure on CBS before its merger with Skydance Media.

A public interest watchdog group has filed a bar complaint against Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr over his criticism of the ABC broadcast network and its late night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

On Wednesday, the Campaign for Accountability (CFA) submitted an 11-page complaint to the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel asking for an investigation into whether Carr’s comments that ultimately influenced two broadcasters to pull Kimmel’s show from their ABC affiliates violated certain professional conduct rules for licensed attorneys.

The complaint stems from comments Carr made after Kimmel criticized conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his death earlier this month.

In an interview with a podcaster last week, Carr warned that Disney and its ABC stations risked regulatory consequences if they continued to air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said, adding that broadcasters “run the possibility of fines or license revocation” if they aired what he called a “pattern of news distortion.”

Carr took issue with a monologue aired two days earlier, during which Kimmel criticized President Donald Trump for his response to a reporter’s question about the fatal shooting of activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel also wrongly implied that the man accused of shooting Kirk, Tyler Robinson, was politically aligned with Trump’s supporters.

During his interview, Carr suggested broadcasters with ABC affiliated stations should respond to the Kimmel monologue by pre-empting his show. Two broadcasters, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair, ultimately agreed to do just that, which prompted ABC to put Kimmel’s show on indefinite hiatus.

According to CFA’s, Carr’s statements may violate Rule 8.4(d) of the D.C. Bar, which prohibits conduct that interferes with the administration of justice, and Rule 8.4(e), which bars implying improper government influence. CFA also pointed to Rule 4.4(a), which prohibits lawyers from using tactics that embarrass or burden third parties.

“By invoking the coercive authority of a federal regulatory agency to punish political speech, Mr. Carr undermined not only First Amendment principles but also public confidence in the fair administration of government regulation,” the complaint stated.

Carr is licensed to practice law in Maryland and Washington, D.C., the latter of which is overseen by the disciplinary office where CFA filed its complaint. He did not respond to a text message from The Desk seeking comment.

It is the second time in two months that a watchdog group has filed a complaint with a legal discipline body over Carr’s behavior. In July, the Freedom of Press Foundation (FPF) submitted a similar complaint with the same disciplinary agency, accusing Carr of engaging in “egregious misconduct” by exerting political pressure on Paramount Global and its CBS network before approving the company’s merger with Skydance Media.

“Everyone from U.S. senators to CBS employees to a dissenting FCC commissioner has said the settlement appears to have been a bribe to grease the wheels for Carr’s FCC to approve the merger,” the FPF said in its complaint. “Even putting Paramount aside, Carr has pursued numerous other frivolous and unconstitutional legal proceedings and threatened more of them in furtherance in his efforts to intimidate broadcast licensees to censor themselves and fall in line with Trump’s agenda.”

As previously reported by The Desk, Nexstar and Sinclair have business-related transactions that require FCC approval — Sinclair is in the process of acquiring and selling licensed TV stations, and Nexstar is trying to buy peer broadcaster TEGNA. A spokesperson for Nexstar said the company’s decision to pre-empt the program was not tied to its proposed acquisition of TEGNA, a deal that would further require the FCC to modify its ownership rules.

ABC allowed Kimmel’s show to return Tuesday evening. The program was not broadcast by Nexstar and Sinclair’s ABC affiliates.

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Read more:

• Press advocacy group seeks disbarment of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr
• ABC pulls “Jimmy Kimmel Live” amid threats from FCC chairman
• Law firm files FCC complaint against TV station over Kimmel monologue
• Trump urges FCC to pull TV station licenses over negative coverage
• Broadcasters who criticized Jimmy Kimmel have deals pending before FCC