The FCC twice refused to make staff available to Sen....
The FCC twice refused to make staff available to Sen. Chuck Grassley, said the Republican senator from Iowa. Grassley said the commission denied him access first to former staffer Paul de Sa, and then to senior FCC aide Josh Gottheimer,…
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to discuss LightSquared. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski “wrote to me last October that he would ‘continue to make staff available to discuss this matter further’ with me or my staff at our ‘convenience,'” Grassley said. “That turned out to be an empty offer.” Calling the agency a “closed shop,” Grassley said it’s “good news” that the House Commerce Committee has requested documents about LightSquared. “Some transparency might be required of the agency after all,” he said. The FCC didn’t comment. Grassley has held up confirmation of commissioner nominees Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel while he investigates FCC actions related to LightSquared (CD March 7 p3). Grassley also released the text of a Jan. 30 letter to the FCC. “Given the complicated technical issues at play, I was surprised that Mr. Gottheimer’s published qualifications did not include any telecommunications or broadband experience,” he wrote. Grassley questioned whether as former executive vice-president of Burson-Marsteller, Gottheimer had a conflict of interest at the commission. On his website, www.joshgottheimer.com, “Mr. Gottheimer … goes into greater detail and states that he served as Global Chair of Burson-Marsteller’s Corporate and Public Affairs Practices. This practice would likely include corporate clients such as LightSquared, which is still a current Burson-Marsteller client.”