A group of Democratic senators say that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been engaged in a “weaponization” of the agency to “punish, censor or intimidate” members of the press based on “political disagreement over editorial choices.”
Among the instances cited in the letter — from Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) — is Carr’s decision to investigate CBS News over the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris, a response to a complaint from a conservative group. Last week, CBS News handed over a transcript of the interview, showing that an answer she gave in a Face the Nation promo and another to 60 Minutes were merely two parts of her response to the same question.
But the lawmakers say that Carr’s decision to open up a docket on the case “are nothing more than a fishing expedition, creating a veneer of government legitimacy for a pressure campaign against independent journalism.”
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Read the senators’ letter to Brendan Carr.
A spokesperson for Carr did not return a request for comment.
His actions have drawn alarm among First Amendment advocates, and a rebuke from the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page.
Al Sikes, the former FCC chair under President George HW Bush, wrote in a recent op ed, “I cannot think of a more egregious use of government power. The constitution guarantees free speech and in the United States we have dozens of news sources and outlets from local to international. In short, no speech is protected from competition. Carr knows this and that is what makes his actions thoughtless— no, cynical.”
The three lawmakers also cited another of other examples, including Carr’s statement that the 60 Minutes complaint would be a factor in the FCC’s review of the merger between Skydance and CBS parent Paramount Global. Previous FCC chairs have been cautious about weighing in on pending merger reviews.
They also cited Carr’s decision to open investigations into PBS and NPR over their underwriting practices, even though he cited no complaint to trigger such an investigation.
“Rather than pursuing an objective, evidence-based investigation, this Carr-driven FCC inquiry seems designed to intimidate public broadcasters that our communities have relied on for decades to provide essential education, public safety, civic leadership, news, information and community programming to all Americans,” they wrote. “This abuse of the FCC’s enforcement tools for partisan political ends — less than two weeks into Chairman Carr’s tenure as head of the Commission — is deeply alarming.”
They added, “Taken together, your statements and actions over the past few months appear politically motivated and intended to attack independent media at the behest of President Donald Trump. This weaponization of the FCC runs counter to its history and, coming from two government officials, represents a serious threat to freedom of the press under the First Amendment.”
The senators also said that Carr’s actions and statements will have a “chilling effect” on news outlets. They noted that ABC News had settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump, as well as reports that Paramount Global was in talks with Trump to settle his lawsuit over the 60 Minutes interview.
“We urge you both to follow the Constitution, immediately cease abusing the FCC’s legal authority, and return to the evidence-based decision-making that has been a staple of the Commission’s long and storied history,” they wrote.
The post Senate Democrats Fire Off Letter To FCC Chairman Over “Weaponization” Of Agency To Punish CBS And Other Broadcast Outlets Over News Content appeared first on Deadline.
