The new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Republican Brendan Carr, will reverse the 11th hour decision by the former Democrat chair to reject three complaints against major media outlets, sources tell Newsmax.
With days left in her term under the Biden administration, Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, last week announced she was dismissing four pending petitions and complaints before the FCC that she believed sought "to curtail freedom of the press."
Three of the petitions related to coverage of the presidential campaign while one was a complaint about Fox News Channel.
Carr, appointed Monday by President Donald Trump, plans to reverse the dismissal of presidential election complaints against ABC, NBC and CBS, but not the one against Fox.
A source told Newsmax that Carr will put the ABC, NBC, and CBS cases back into pending or active status. The move means the complaints against the three networks can be adjudicated on their merits.
The source added that Rosenworcel could have prevented the FCC from reversing course had she acted a few weeks earlier. That could have prevented Carr from overturning his predecessor's decision.
Three of the complaints were filed by the Center of American Rights, a conservative nonprofit. One complaint said ABC News favored Vice President Kamala Harris during the presidential debate, another was about how CBS News' "60 Minutes" edited an interview with Harris, and the third complained about Harris' appearance on "Saturday Night Live" because Trump didn't get equal time.
The complaint against Fox over 2020 election coverage will not be brought back.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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