The Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has asked the FCC’s Acting Bureau Chief of the Enforcement Bureau, Patrick Webre, and its Acting Bureau Chief of the Media Bureau, Erin Boone, to provide more details about what he calls the Commission’s recent “unprecedented, intrusive investigations against media broadcasters under arbitrary and capricious pretenses.”
The actions of Webre and Boone under the leadership of Chairman Brendan Carr are being reviewed by Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who singles out eight recent investigations and complaints by the FCC under Carr that he believes appear to focus on newsrooms and broadcast stations that may be disfavored by President Trump.
“Each of these eight actions single out media broadcasters that faced the wrath of President Trump during his Presidential campaign, including actual litigation or outright threats of investigations in retaliation for perceived negative coverage,” Blumenthal wrote in the letter to Webre and Boone. “This exclusive targeting to the apparent benefit of the President is further reflected in the fact that other media broadcasters, particularly allies of the President, have not faced any similar scrutiny.”
Blumenthal’s letter describes what he says is Carr’s “apparent break from FCC’s past legal interpretations and guidance, including Carr’s own positions prior to becoming Chair of the FCC.” The letter requests information and seeks documents about the legal standards that the FCC is now operating under and also asks for information about what investigations the Commission has recently opened, including whether there are inquiries focusing on media entities favored by President Trump that have engaged in the same activities as those targeted by Carr.
“Under the new standard that appears to have been set by Chair Carr, however, every newsroom, affiliate group, and broadcaster across the country faces the possibility of burdensome investigations, fines, and even the revocation of licenses for disfavored speech or a change in political winds — they will pay a price if the targeted newsrooms do not conform to President Trump’s preferred political narratives,” Blumenthal wrote.
In particular, Blumenthal seeks the Carr Commission’s response to inquiries regarding alleged “news distortion” over an ABC News moderator’s factchecking of a Presidential debate, with WPVI-TV in Philadelphia the station conservative advocacy group Center for American Rights targets with its complaint.
Then, there is the much-discussed “news distortion” matter regarding an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris conducted with CBS News in which she answered a question about Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a way that required extensive editing, resulting in two different responses to the same question — one airing on “Face the Nation” and the other airing on “60 Minutes.”
CBS parent Paramount’s proposed transaction handing control to Skydance Media still awaits FCC regulatory approval.
Additionally, Blumenthal wants more on the FCC’s decision to investigate WNBC-TV in New York for not providing equal time in an immediate manner after having former VP Harris appear on NBC’s Saturday Night Live just days before Election Day in November 2024.
There’s more, as Blumenthal wants answers into probes into potential underwriting violations conducted by NPR and PBS and at Audacy Inc., which owns KCBS Radio in San Francisco — a station singled out by Carr for its airing of details pertaining to an ongoing ICE raid in the region. The Carr Commission says this could be violation of the broadcaster’s public interest obligations, even though the information was disseminated elsewhere beforehand.
“The Commission’s investigations appear predicated on dubious legal theories that deviate from the FCC’s public guidance, rules, and past enforcement actions, raising the question of whether the FCC is operating under a new set of standards,” Blumenthal says in the letter. “Chair Carr’s vexatious investigation of opponents of President Trump represents a threat to the First Amendment and inflicts upon newsrooms, affiliate groups, local media, nonprofit organizations, and religious broadcasters an ever-looming risk of retaliatory federal investigations for protected speech.”
For these reasons, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations opened a preliminary inquiry into the FCC’s recent handling of complaints and investigations.
Pursuant to Senate Resolution 59 (118th Cong.) and PSI Rule 1, information and records responsive to the following requests is due from the acting heads of the Enforcement Bureau and Media Bureau by March 26:
Describe the FCC’s investigatory process for complaints involving broadcast news distortion, equal time, underwriting, non-discrimination, and public interest obligations, including, but not limited to:
Procedures and protocols for:
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receiving and evaluating complaints
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gathering additional information
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docketing complaints
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making and issuing determinations
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seeking enforcement, when applicable
The parties responsible for administering, reviewing, and approving each step of the FCC’s investigatory process.
Identify all authorities, including but not limited to statutes, regulations, legal precedents, guidance, and Commission reports and memoranda related to news distortion, equal time, underwriting, non-discrimination, and public interest obligations, relied on by the FCC to:
initiate an investigation into allegations; determine the sufficiency of an investigation into and evidence probative of allegations; set aside a prior order; seek public comments on an investigation, including evidence; and seek enforcement against a broadcaster.
