I thought the Desire went through FCC in late 2009 under a different codename... At least that's what somebody posted on androidforums in a different thread. However, a quick Google search has come up with a big fat zero. Part of the problem is that just a few months ago there was all kinds of confusion regarding the HTC Bravo/NexusOne/Incredible, with names and frequencies being mixed and matched (understandable as they're all essentially the same phone on the inside).
Interesting side-node, an AT&T friendly Legend DID pass the FCC.
The big question here is, what could AT&T possibly offer that fits this description (before June 30th): "An HTC smartphone, based on the Android platform, and an AT&T exclusive."
The simple fact of the matter is AT&T promised 5 phones to be "launched" in the first half of 2010. They're running out of time. (That being said, the Aero was "launched" in March and there's still no word on when it will actually be available.)
It might have gone through that way or since very similar phones have made their way through it could just be a rubber stamp to get it.
The Samsung has passed FCC so that is the third one to pass the FCC or maybe the 4th if right about the Desire passing under a different code name.
But I am with you they said 5 in first half of the year. And that was in Jan so they needed to adverage 1 a month from that point on. And they missed Feb but hit March. We are almost half way through April without an announcement for this month. So they will either not make it, which is what I suspect, or May and June will be very busy months for new android phones for AT&T giving us 2 a month in those months.
As to what they can offer from HTC there is nothing I have seen short of the Desire unless there is some rework that is not on Snapdragon. Which would mean another middle of the road andriod for AT&T and 1 top of the line being the Samsung, if true. Sadly I will not get a cutting edge Samsung device due to past experence on support even if it was not a phone.