Its President is Stephen Miller, who served in the West Wing as Senior Advisor to the President for the entirety of the Trump Administration. Introducing America First Legal, an organization whose mission is to oppose “the radical left’s anti-jobs, anti-freedom, anti-faith, anti-borders, and Anti-American crusade.”
Add “anti-Soros” to its list of goals, as it has launched an investigation into the FCC for what it calls the “apparent fast-tracking” of Audacy Inc.‘s post-bankruptcy restructuring plan, which makes Soros Fund Management its controlling interest holder.
For more than seven months, the FCC has been holding back on approving — or sending to an Administrative Law Judge — Audacy’s Chapter 11 emergence plan.
Houston-based U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christoper Lopez signed off on the audio content and creation company’s restructuring in February. It would make a George Soros-controlled fund Audacy’s top institutional investor post-bankruptcy, and that has sounded alarms among many Republicans in Congress.
Furthermore, the FCC’s two Republican Commissioners, Nate Simington and Brendan Carr, are against approval of the plan as it stands today.
As of today, a Debtor-in-Possession Forbearance Agreement is scheduled to expire on Monday (9/30), after an extension granted by Lopez in mid-August.
This has raised speculation that the FCC’s three Democrats will say yes to the transaction, allowing Audacy to emerge from bankruptcy with less debt and a new majority shareholder. Some believe the 3-2 decision in favor of Audacy’s plan is imminent.
That’s unsettling to America First Legal, which addresses Soros Fund’s February 2024 acquisition of $400 million of Audacy’s debt and “subsequently asked the FCC to approve a change in Audacy’s ownership.”
This change would involve getting a foreign ownership waiver, which have become increasingly common in recent years. Without a waiver, licensees may only obtain 25% foreign ownership.
But, as America First Legal points out, the proposed Audacy bankruptcy emergence plan involves circumstances involving more than 25% foreign ownership. As such, it argues that the Commission is side-stepping “a standard review practice to assess whether such a transaction would serve the public interest, which includes a review of things such as national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, or trade policy issues.”
To boost its point, it shared a New York Post article from June 18 featuring comments reiterated by Carr following the FCC’s September Open Meeting on September 26 and at a House Oversight Meeting held last week that was largely underreported by the media. During that hearing, Carr noted, “[T]he FCC is not following its normal process for reviewing a transaction. We have established over a number of years one way in which you can get approval from the FCC when you have an excess of 25% foreign ownership, which this transaction does. It seems to me that the FCC is poised to create, for the first time, an entirely new shortcut.”
In Congress, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) in April raised questions as to the structure of foreign ownership for Audacy after it emerges from bankruptcy. This was followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sending a letter in August to Carr and Simington urging them to “insist that the transaction be reviewed by the full Commission, including any order granting a waiver of the FCC’s foreign ownership rules to transfer Audacy’s broadcast licenses to the reorganized Soros-backed entity.”
With Democrats in the majority, that’s not likely to happen — and Republicans can only complain and raise awareness; this week a FOX News report on Republican concerns over Soros’ stake in a post-bankruptcy Audacy flooded affiliate websites and Google News searches.
But, Congress — and Miller’s organization — is stepping up their fight. On Thursday (9/26) Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight, Rep. James Comer, and Rep. Nick Langworthy launched a probe into the “politicization of the FCC” following the expedited review of the Soros-Audacy deal.
Some could argue that the “politicization” of the Commission started under the Obama Administration, and was only strengthened by President Trump under the Pai Commission. Don’t tell that to Comer (R-Ky.) or Langworthy (R-N.Y.), who have gone so far as to claim that the FCC is engaged in “apparent attempts to interfere in the 2024 election.”
They state, “The FCC is taking unprecedented action in this case to expedite a required review of broadcast licenses by bypassing its standard procedures and processes. The expedited decision will ensure that Audacy Inc., in which George Soros, a Democrat megadonor, and his company Soros Fund Management, are acquiring a major equity stake, will continue to maintain broadcast licenses for their over 200 radio stations.”
While Republicans believe this could lead to editorial bias at Audacy’s stations, which include legacy CBS Radio all-News properties in several markets, there is no indication that such influence would at all transpire.
Still, Comer and Langworthy have penned a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel requesting documents and communications to understand FCC’s actions and the impact of its decisions related to radio station licenses associated with the decision.
“By all appearances, the FCC majority isn’t just expediting, but is bypassing an established process to do a favor for George Soros and facilitate his influence over hundreds of radio stations before the November election,” Comer and Langworthy said.
For Miller and America First Legal, it seeks to uncover the facts surrounding the transaction and any special treatment of it. “AFL has requested all records relating to the FCC’s decision to delay the national security review of Audacy and information about whether the FCC has punted other national security reviews in the past,” it said. “By delaying this formal review process, millions of American listeners will be affected — all in the final weeks before the U.S. presidential election. AFL will continue to demand transparency from the government for the protection of all American citizens.”
