House report finds abuse of power and 'turmoil' at FCC
WASHINGTON -- In a scathing report, congressional investigators on Tuesday outline a pattern of mismanagement, dysfunction and abuse of power at the Federal Communications Commission under the agency's Republican chairman, Kevin Martin.
The report — result of a nearly year-long, bipartisan investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee — accuses Martin of manipulating data and suppressing information to influence telecommunications policy debates at the agency and on Capitol Hill.
The report also says the commission has become politicized, failed to carry out some important responsibilities under Martin, and blames him for undermining an open and transparent regulatory process.
Martin also is accused of micromanaging commission affairs, demoting agency staffers who did not agree with him and withholding information from fellow commissioners. "Chairman Martin's heavy-handed, opaque, and non-collegial management style has created distrust, suspicion and turmoil among the five current commissioners," the report says.
Martin's legacy at the FCC will be "a blueprint of what not to do," said Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who chairs the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
"The findings suggest that, in recent years, the FCC has operated in a dysfunctional manner and commission business has suffered as a result," said Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., who will be relinquishing the reins of the panel to California Democrat Henry Waxman next year.
Robert Kenny, a spokesman for Martin, said the committee "did not find or conclude that there were any violations of rules, laws or procedures." Martin is widely expected to leave the commission after the White House changes hands.
Among the findings of the 110-page report:
• Martin manipulated the findings of an FCC inquiry into the potential consumer benefits of requiring cable companies to sell channels on an individual — or "a la carte" — basis. The House investigation concludes Martin undermined the integrity of the FCC staff and may have improperly influenced the congressional debate on the matter by ordering agency employees to rewrite a report concluding that a la carte mandates would not benefit consumers.
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