FCC Chief Is Silent in Probe - washingtonpost.com

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: David Chessler <chessler () usa net>
Date: November 15, 2008 12:44:06 AM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: FCC Chief Is Silent in Probe - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/14/AR2008111403375.html

FCC Chief Is Silent in Probe
Lawmakers Could Finish Leadership Inquiry Without His Input

By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 15, 2008; D02

Lawmakers investigating Federal Communications Commission Chairman  
Kevin J. Martin said yesterday that he has failed to respond to their  
requests for an interview, even though Congress has neared the final  
stages of its inquiry into his leadership.

Reps. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the Committee on Energy  
and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the subcommittee  
on oversight and investigations, yesterday sent a letter to Martin and  
three other FCC staffers, telling them that they have until Nov. 21 to  
meet with the House committee staff. If they do not, the committee  
will finalize its report without their input.

A committee spokesperson said the final report is expected to be  
released this month.

"Since last week, the committee staff has attempted to arrange an  
interview to provide you with an opportunity to comment personally on  
these matters," Dingell and Stupak wrote. "Thus far, however, your  
office has failed to arrange a meeting in response to our calls."

Identical letters were sent to Martin; his chief of staff, Dan  
Gonzalez; the FCC's inspector general, Kent Nilsson; and Catherine  
Bohigian, a former aide to Martin who is vice president of federal  
affairs for Cablevision Systems.

Martin's office said it has cooperated with Dingell and Stupak's  
office in the investigation and has provided thousands of documents at  
their request.

"We continue to cooperate with the committee, and we're considering  
their offer," said Robert Kenny, a spokesman for the FCC.

Dingell launched the investigation into the regulatory practices and  
management of the FCC in December after complaints surfaced from  
within the commission that Martin had suppressed reports that didn't  
support his agenda to change media ownership rules and purposely  
delayed meetings for several hours to pressure other commissioners.

Some said Martin tried to rush through controversial reforms on how  
phone companies pay each other and the overhaul of a federal program  
that provides funds to phone service providers in rural and  
underserved areas.

Those proposals were pulled from the agenda of the FCC's meeting  
earlier this month after the commission's four other members disagreed  
with Martin, according to sources who spoke on the condition of  
anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

"We have witnessed too much sniping among the five commissioners, and  
we have heard too many tales of a short-circuited decision-making  
process," Dingell said last December at a hearing on media ownership  
reforms. "The FCC appears to be broken."

© 2008 The Washington Post Company


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