Ep. 236: JD Vance, 60 Minutes, the Associated Press, the FCC, and more

From JD Vance’s free speech critique of Europe to the Trump
administration barring the Associated Press from the Oval Office,
free speech news is buzzing. General Counsel Ronnie London and
Chief Counsel Bob Corn-Revere unpack the latest
developments. 


Timestamps: 


00:00 Intro


01:49 JD Vance’s speech in Europe


13:27 Margaret Brennan’s comment on the Holocaust


15:13 Weimar fallacy


17:36 Trump admin v. Associated Press


21:33 DEI executive order


27:39 Trump’s lawsuits targeting the media


28:54 FIRE defending Iowa pollster Ann Selzer


32:29 Concerns about the FCC under Brendan Carr


44:09 2004 Super Bowl and the FCC


46:25 FCC’s history of using the “Section 230 threat”


49:14 Newsguard and the FCC


54:48 Elon Musk and doxxing


59:44 Foreigners and the First Amendment


01:05:19 Outro


Read the transcript here.


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Show notes:


- “Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the Munich
Security Conference” The White House (2025)


- “Utterly bizarre assertion from Margaret Brennan…” Michael
Tracey via X (2025)


- “Rubio defends Vance's Munich speech as CBS host suggests 'free
speech' caused the Holocaust” FOX News (2025)


- “Posting hateful speech online could lead to police raiding
your home in this European country” 60 Minutes (2025)


- “AP reporter and photographer barred from Air Force One over
‘Gulf of Mexico’ terminology dispute” AP News (2025)


- “FIRE statement on White House denying AP Oval Office access”
FIRE (2025)


- “Ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and
preferencing” The White House (2025)


- “Meta to pay $25 million to settle 2021 Trump lawsuit” The Wall
Street Journal (2025)


- “Trump settles suit against Elon Musk’s X over his post-Jan. 6
ban” AP News (2025)


- “Questions ABC News should answer following the $16 million
Trump settlement” Columbia Journalism Review (2025)


- “Trump v. Selzer: Donald Trump sues pollster J. Ann Selzer for
‘consumer fraud’ over Iowa poll” FIRE (2025)


- “A plea for institutional modesty” Bob Corn-Revere (2025)


- “Telecommunications Act” FCC (1996)


- Section 230 (1993)


- “CBS News submits records of Kamala Harris' '60 Minutes' spot
to FCC amid distortion probe” USA Today (2025)


- “Complaints against various television licensees concerning
their February 1, 2004 broadcast of the Super Bowl XXXVIII
halftime show” FCC (2004)


- “Brendan Carr’s letter to Big Tech CEOs” Brendan Carr via the
FCC (2024)


- “NRA v. Vullo” (2023)


- “She should be fired immediately” Elon Musk via X (2025)


- “Restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship” The
White House (2025)


- “Protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other
national security and public safety threats” The White House
(2025)