House Dems Call For Investigation Into Alleged Report Supression By FCC

[NashVegas]

This should have been in LBN yesterday, but it was missed.

A group of 34 House Democrats led by Congressman MAURICE HINCHEY (D-NY), Congressman DAVID PRICE (D-NC), Congresswoman TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI), and Congressman SHERROD BROWN (D-OH) today called on FCC Inspector General KENT R. NILSSON to conduct an investigation into the recent revelations that the agency hid two studies on media consolidation from the public (NET NEWS 9/14).

The move by HINCHEY and his asociates comes just days after CALIFORNIA Sen. BARBARA BOXER called for a similar investigation after the second of two allegedly suppressed reports sufaced (NET NEWS 9/19).

"If one or both of these reports were suppressed because they did not support official FCC policy, such actions could not only constitute fraud, but could also run counter to the FCC’s stated goals of transparency and public involvement in its media ownership proceedings," the House Democrats wrote.

News of this second push for a probe into alleged report supression under former FCC Chairman MICHAEL POWELL comes as current FCC Chairman KEVIN MARTIN launches an internal investigation into the matter, reports MEDIAWEEK. MARTIN's investigation was revealed this week in a letter he wrote to BOXER, which read in part, "I too am concerned about what happened to these two draft reports. I have asked the inspector general of the FCC to conduct an investigation into what happened to these draft documents." In his letter to BOXER, MARTIN denied having ever seen the reports.



Monday, September 18, 2006
Powell: I Never Saw Localism Report

Former FCC Chairman MICHAEL POWELL says that he never saw the localism study that a former Commission lawyer claims the FCC surpressed. POWELL told the ASSOCIATED PRESS through his assistant JUDY MANN that he "never saw the report, he never heard of the report until yesterday and he certainly never ordered anything destroyed or stopped."


Thursday, September 14, 2006
Former FCC Lawyer Claims Localism Study Quashed By Commission

ADAM CANDEUB, now a law professor at MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, told the magazine that the study of local television news, which Sen. BARBARA BOXER (D-CA) obtained and sprang on a surprised Chairman KEVIN MARTIN at his renomination hearing TUESDAY, was killed by officials who "said that the project was dead, and to delete computer records." CANDEUB also told the ASSOCIATED PRESS that "every last piece" of the study was destroyed ("the whole project was just stopped- end of discussion"), although the report, in a draft form, appears to have survived and has been incorporated into the localism proceeding, which has been stalled at the Commission for the last few years.

The above all come from Allacess.com ... it's free but you have to register.

Here's the House letter:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny22_hinchey/morenews/092106FCCIG.html

[AndyA]

1. Hey, House Dems! While you're at it, there are a few more investigations

that need to be done:

- George Bush (lies, outing of CIA agents, war crimes, etc., etc., etc.)
- The missing billions in Iraq
- The gas price manipulation
- Election fraud on E-vote machines proven to be easily manipulated
- The GOP/lobbyist corrupting scandal

That should be enough to keep you busy. But there are many, many more so don't worry, you'll have plenty to do. Maybe you can actually work more days next year, how about that? :eyes: