A group of prominent Senate Democrats sent a letter to FCC chair, Brendan Carr, to protest the commission’s order last week challenging ABC’s licenses

A group of prominent Senate Democrats sent a letter on Thursday to Brendan Carr, the Trump-aligned Federal Communications Commission chair, asking him to rescind the US media regulator’s order last week requiring ABC to apply early to renew its television licenses.

The eight ABC-owned station licenses were not originally up for renewal until 2028 at the earliest and 2031 at the latest; now, the renewal requests must be filed by the end of May.

Eight local broadcasting licenses under review after White House launched attack on late-night host over comment

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The US’s top media watchdog announced on Tuesday that it is accelerating the review of eight local broadcasting licenses used by ABC, in a move critics see as a clear example of political and regulatory retribution against a disfavored broadcaster.

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) announcement comes after the White House launched a full-on attack against the ABC’s late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel, over a joke he made last week about Melania Trump.

Paramount Skydance CEO fetes administration as it weighs $110bn merger with CNN parent WarnerBros Discovery

Dozens of protesters, including members of Congress, gathered along the National Mall on Thursday to protest an “intimate” dinner being held by Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison “in celebration of the First Amendment” and “honoring the Trump White House and CBS White House Correspondents”, and attended by Donald Trump.

Paramount has faced criticism for the dinner, which has been seen by some as illustrative of the cozy relationship between the Ellisons and the White House – right as the Trump administration is weighing whether to approve the company’s $110bn merger with CNN parent company WarnerBros Discovery. The dinner comes before Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner, which Trump will attend. His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is expected to sit at one of the many tables bought by CBS News for the event.

Magazine has stood behind the story, which was written by veteran national security reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick

Kash Patel has followed through on a threat to sue the Atlantic and the author of a story the magazine published that included allegations of “excessive drinking” as well as “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” while in charge of the law enforcement agency.

The FBI director filed a defamation lawsuit in US district court for the District of Columbia that seeks $250m in damages.