Trump Tweets Sinclair HDO 'Disgraceful'; FCC Seen Unlikely to 'Kowtow'

The FCC’s likely sinking of Sinclair buying Tribune is “disgraceful” and “so sad and unfair,” said President Donald Trump Tuesday evening in a tweet that angered Democratic lawmakers, but is considered unlikely to influence FCC policy, said boosters and critics of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “I don’t think the chairman would kowtow” to Trump, said Benton Foundation and Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy fellow Gigi Sohn, an aide to previous FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “I’m sure he knows the FCC is an independent agency,” said Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, a friend of Trump’s and opponent of Sinclair/Tribune. “I would be very surprised if he ever tried to meddle with FCC policy.”

“This would have been a great and much needed Conservative voice for and of the People,” Trump tweeted. “Liberal Fake News NBC and Comcast gets approved, much bigger, but not Sinclair.” “Disagree,” responded Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. She and the other three commissioners faced questions about Trump's tweet during a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee oversight hearing (see 1807250043). Rosenworcel reaffirmed her disagreement, Pai said he stood by the FCC’s decision, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said he couldn’t answer because of the deal’s referral to an administrative law judge, and Commissioner Brendan Carr said the hearing designation order laid out FCC views.

Pai responded to a question about whether he could insulate the ALJ from “politicization” raised by the tweet, saying the HDO put the matter under the purview of the ALJ. FCC Chief ALJ Richard Sippel is also unlikely to bend to directives from Trump, Sohn said. Pai said he would disclose any presidential communications on Sinclair as long as they were consistent with the proceeding’s ex parte rule restrictions. The FCC didn’t comment on whether the White House had communicated with the agency about Sinclair since the HDO.

Democrats asked Pai if he considered the political bent of licensees in transaction reviews. Pai said he looks at the facts, applies the law and seeks to act in the public interest. He said he couldn’t answer a question about whether the FCC would look into Sinclair’s alleged misrepresentations and lack of candor, citing advice of his general counsel. Rosenworcel said the FCC should be open to investigating such issues.

Capitol Hill reaction to Trump's tweet divided along partisan lines. Democrats were outraged, Republicans surprised and/or confident the FCC would still act independently of the president. Democrats at the hearing objected to Trump’s tweet, though they welcomed the FCC decision to send the transaction to an ALJ.

“I don't think [Trump's tweet] is on the level of [President Barack Obama's] influence in the Wheeler FCC” on the 2015 net neutrality proceeding, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters. “I don't think it's a normal thing for presidents to weigh in on these types of issues,” but “preferably we'd like to see the FCC operate in an independent way.” Sohn said Trump’s tweet was in the same spirit as Obama’s weighing in on net neutrality. It’s not unusual for presidents to express opinions on FCC policy, she said. “This is a president who likes to let everyone know how he thinks and feels,” Ruddy said.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us he thought Trump's tweet was “unusual.” Presidents usually “don't weigh in on individual transactions that are before the FCC,” but Trump “is clearly entitled to his opinion on these matters,” Walden said. “I want the FCC to be an independent agency, an expert agency” on telecom and media issues, he said. “I have confidence” that the commission remains independent.

House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., told us he considers Trump's comments “outrageous.” Trump is “clearly saying [Sinclair/Tribune] should be approved because he wants conservative voices to dominate the airwaves,” he said: “That is totally contrary to what the FCC is supposed to do. You're supposed to have divergent views, differing voices” in the media. “The way I interpret [Trump's] tweet is basically to say 'I want to encourage conservative voice or maybe to have exclusively conservative voices” in the media, Pallone said. House Communications ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said during the hearing he's “extremely concerned” the president “waded into the issue” and hopes Pai can assure lawmakers the tweet won’t cause the commission to change course.

Trump’s tweet could indicate the hearing process may not lead to the breakup of Sinclair/Tribune, blogged Wheeler Wednesday. “The tweet would seem to signal to Sinclair not to withdraw the transaction (a typical reaction to a designation for a hearing),” Wheeler wrote. “The Trump FCC will ultimately decide whether the much-ballyhooed decision to send the transaction to a hearing is anything more than a smokescreen designed to focus attention on three specific license transfers while the remaining 39 stations sail through,” Wheeler wrote. “The recent Trump tweet would seem to support such approval.” The FCC under his successor “has been a master of Orwellian double-speak, saying one thing while doing the opposite,” said Wheeler. “Let’s hope we are not hearing such double-speak once again.”