GoKawiilA small conservative legal group used direct access to the Federal Communications Commission chairman’s office last September to accelerate a complaint targeting Jimmy Kimmel and his employer, ABC, according to internal emails obtained by WIRED.
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The emails show the group routed its filing to Chairman Brendan Carr’s senior counsel, sidestepping career staff who typically review such complaints.
The correspondence offers a detailed look at how the Center for American Rights (CAR), whose filings often echo criticisms of the press by President Donald Trump, supplied legal arguments used in challenges against broadcast networks. Kimmel was briefly suspended in September following threats from the FCC, drawing condemnation from press freedom advocates and First Amendment scholars.
The backlash against Kimmel and ABC followed comments Carr made on a conservative podcast about a Kimmel monologue discussing the killing of Charlie Kirk. Carr suggested ABC affiliates could face regulatory scrutiny if they did not take action.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Records show that Daniel Suhr—president of CAR and former policy director to Wisconsin governor Scott Walker—had a direct line to Carr's senior legal advisers and used it to route filings around consumer affairs staff. For months, emails show, CAR had fed the chairman's office a steady supply of legal theories that could be used in attacks against major broadcast networks that drew the ire of the Trump administration.
Carr’s predecessor, Jessica Rosenworcel, had dismissed three earlier complaints from the group against ABC, CBS, and NBC stations, calling them “at odds with the First Amendment.” Carr reinstated those complaints shortly after taking office.
By September 2025, the group’s efforts had already influenced regulatory proceedings. CAR's complaint against CBS over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris became leverage in the agency’s review of the Paramount-Skydance merger, which cleared in July after Skydance committed to installing a conservative ombudsman at CBS News.
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