Information Requests on Standard/Tegna Are 'Fishing Expedition' Says Frank Washington

Calls for the FCC to apply Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. rules, and repeated requests for more information on the Standard/Tegna deal are a “red herring” and a “fishing expedition” said Crossings TV CEO Frank Washington in a letter to the agency posted in docket 22-162 Thursday. Washington is a former FCC deputy bureau chief who was involved in the minority tax certificate’s creation and the Viacom deal that led to Congress repealing the program. Washington said the information requests are intended to delay the deal. “This matters because transactions are ephemeral,” and have many potential failure points, Washington said. “If timing isn’t everything, it certainly can have outcome determinitive consequences.” Calls to look at the deal through a foreign-ownership lens are “troubling,” Washington said. Standard General founder Soo Kim “and countless other Asian-American business leaders like him, are naturalized citizens who love this country and are just as committed to our laws,” Washington said. “If expanding minority ownership is something the FCC truly values, then Standard General’s acquisition of TEGNA must be had forthwith.”