FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has responded to an Aug. 14 letter from the House Energy & Commerce Committee‘s top Democrats that raised a series of concerns about allegations of favorable treatment toward Sinclair Broadcast Group and its planned merger with Tribune Media.
The response from these Members of Congress? Pai’s response falls short of what they need answers on — including a possible new e-mail controversy on Capitol Hill.
In a five-page letter sent Friday to House E&C Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Pai reiterated his belief that since joining the Commission in May 2012, he has been “a strong advocate for maintaining a vibrant and free over-the-air broadcast service in this country.”
He added, “Whether I have been pushing for the revitalization of AM radio or fighting to ensure that broadcast television stations were treated fairly in the incentive auction proceeding, my actions have been motivated by my belief that a strong over-the-air broadcast service advances the public interest. They have not been fueled by a desire to help any particular company.”
Pai then made no apologies for charting a much different course than his predecessor, Tom Wheeler.
“Under its prior leadership, the Commission was generally perceived as being hostile to broadcasters,” Pai wrote. “I make no apologies for the fact that I have charted a different course. And, I am pleased that the initiatives we have begun this year, from launching a proceeding to authorize use of the next-generation broadcast television standard to beginning a comprehensive effort to modernize the Commission’s media regulations, have drawn support from a wide range of broadcasters associated with a wide variety of ideological perspectives.”
Pai then more specifically addressed topics outlined in the House E&C Democrats’ August letter, signed by Pallone, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-Pa.).
Since Nov. 8, 2016, Pai has met two times with President Trump. Each of these meetings has been publicly reported.
The Jan. 16, 2017, session with then-President-Elect Trump at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan “was similar to a job interview,” Pai asserted. “The then-President-Elect did not express a view on any pending FCC proceedings.”
The same scenario unfolded at a March 6 White House meeting, Pai added.
“We did not discuss any issue pending at the FCC involving the Sinclair Broadcast Group at either meeting, and I do not recall the Sinclair Broadcast Group even being mentioned at either meeting,” he said.
In terms of other White House officials in the current Administration, Pai did not recall
having any discussions with any of them pertaining to the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and he is unaware of anyone in my office having such discussions.
THREE MEETINGS WITH SINCLAIR
Since Nov. 8, 2016, Pai and two members of his office “are believed” to have met with Sinclair representatives.
On Nov. 16, 2016, he spoke at a Baltimore gathering of Sinclair station GMs “scheduled well before November 8,” at which Pai gave a brief presentation regarding some of the issues confronting the FCC. He also had a brief lunch with some Sinclair executives, with Pai’s Chief of Staff, Matthew Berry, joining him.
At CES 2017 in early January, Pai again met with Sinclair representatives; he was joined by Wireline Advisor Nick Degani in what he calls “a social meeting.”
Then, on Jan. 19, Pai met with Sinclair representatives in Arlington, Va.
This was no social call: Pai confirmed that “pending FCC proceedings were discussed during this meeting, and a summary of that meeting was filed with the Commission on Jan. 23,
2017, and is publicly available through the FCC’s website. Berry was in tow for this meeting.
Pai also cannot rule out the possibility that a representative of Sinclair Broadcast Group “could have participated in a widely-attended meeting with a member of my office (for example, a large group of broadcasters from various companies), but I can’t find any records of any such meetings.”
Regarding claims that the return by Pai of the FCC’s the so-called “UHF discount” in order to look at current FCC ownership rules as a whole was possibly fueled by discussions with Sinclair, Pai said, “Neither Sinclair nor Tribune nor anyone acting on behalf of either company informed me or my office of a possible transaction involving these companies
before the Commission voted to reinstate the UHF discount.”
Pai added that some eight Petitions to Deny Sinclair’s merger with Tribune Media were filed by the Aug. 7 deadline, and that the record also contains “many submissions from interested parties and a significant number of comments from members of the public.”
HOUSE DEMS LESS THAN SATIS-PAI’d
Pai’s lengthy response wasn’t good enough for Pallone, DeGette and Doyle.
The trio of House E&C Democrats responded today with an update, saying “Unfortunately, Chairman Pai’s response left a number of questions unanswered including whether FCC personnel use their personal email accounts to communicate about Sinclair.”
There was no other immediate comment from the House Members; RBR+TVBR has asked for an additional response from the Democrats to Pai’s letter.
The House Members did not query e-mail use in their initial August letter to Pai.
