Pai Responds to Pallone, Blumenthal Months After Sinclair Inquiries
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai took roughly five months to respond to legislators seeking information on FCC action on Sinclair, according to letters to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Blumenthal wrote Pai seeking information on Pai’s contacts…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
with the White House about the now-dissolved Sinclair buying Tribune, and Pallone requested information about a DOJ investigation into advertising practices by Sinclair and other broadcasters. Pai didn’t respond to Pallone until the last day of 2018, after a November settlement between broadcasters and DOJ over sharing ad data (see 1812140019). Pai responded to Blumenthal a few days later, weeks after an FCC Office of Inspector General report said the chairman didn’t lie to Congress about a call with then-White House Counsel Don McGahn (see 1812030046). Pai referenced the OIG report to Blumenthal and disagreed with Blumenthal claiming Pai says status inquiries from the White House were common. “I said during an appearance at the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum that this ‘was the first time we had received a status inquiry of that kind’ regarding a deal" (see 1808210038), Pai said. Pai informed Pallone about the DOJ settlement and noted matters connected with Sinclair/Tribune are “in abeyance” until the FCC’s new administrative law judge resolves the matter (see 1812060045). “It would be premature to speculate on what further steps if any the Commission might take with respect to the issues you raise,” Pai said.