WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Disney-owned ABC television network sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday over a potential threat to its broadcast licenses.

The suit accuses the Trump administration, through the regulatory body, of waging a “retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.”

“Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech,” it says.

The suit, filed in a federal district court in Washington, comes after the FCC earlier this year asked Disney-owned TV stations to renew their broadcast licenses earlier than scheduled.

President Donald Trump has personally lashed out at ABC on several occasions, particularly the network’s late night host Jimmy Kimmel, and has suggested removing broadcast licenses.

“For months, the Administration has steadily increased the pressure on ABC, culminating in the present threat to the broadcasting licenses of the eight ABC Owned Stations,” the suit says.

“The Commission has demanded a review of the Stations’ licenses extraordinarily early,” it says.

“That timing underscores the Commission’s true purpose: coercing and retaliating against a network that refuses to bow to the Administration’s demands.”