Commissioner Brendan Carr of theFederal Communications Commission is sounding the alarm over a pending purchase which would allow billionaire Democratic donor George Soros to purchase hundreds of U.S. radio stations.
During a House Oversight Committee hearing last week, Carr objected to a deal that would allow a Soros-backed group to take ownership of 200 stations across 40 markets. He claimed the FCC was deviating from its normal procedure by allowing the purchase to take place.
“I think what’s interesting about it is that the FCC is not following its normal process for reviewing transactions that it has established over a number of years,” Carr warned. “It seems to me the FCC is poised, for the first time, to create an entirely new shortcut.”
The transaction, which was reported by The National Desk in February, would break a rule preventing more than 25% foreign ownership of U.S. radio stations, Carr alleges. Despite this, Carr claimed the agency was expediting its review process.
“What we usually do is require people to file a petition with us, bring in the National Security Agency to review the foreign ownership—it’s probably no big deal here—but we review that foreign ownership and then we vote,” Carr said. “Here, they’re trying to do something that’s never been done before at a commission level.”
Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., said during the hearing he was “extremely alarmed” by the purchase.
“Looking at the facts, it seems the administration is giving a left-wing billionaire, who is a major donor, a close ally, one of the chief funders of all of their efforts and their dark money, a free pass to take control of hundreds of local radio stations, flooding the airwaves with leftist propaganda and I think it’s blatant,” he said.
The FCC did not respond to a request for comment from The National Desk Tuesday.
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