Three former FCC chairs who served under Democratic and Republican presidents have broken with tradition in recent days to publicly criticize the organization’s current chairman, Brenden Carr, for actions they warn are direct attacks on the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.
Their concerns were made public on Tuesday in Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter.
At issue are the politically motivated investigations Carr has ordered against several media organizations that President Donald Trump considers enemies. These include attacks on CBS based on conspiracy theories about the “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris and investigations against PBS and NPR literally pulled from the Project 2025 playbook. Carr has even ordered an investigation against NBCUniversal parent company Comcast over DEI policies.
The latter inspired Tom Wheeler, former FCC Chair under Barack Obama, to speak out, telling Oliver Darcy, “”The fact that they’re saying that because you have a corporate philosophy of inclusion, I will launch an investigation that attacks the fact that your website states this is a ‘core value of our business’—maybe that was my breaking point.”
Darcy also spoke to Reed Hundt, FCC Chair under Bill Clinton, who asserted that the FCC “has always been a bulwark against government encroachment on the First Amendment rights of individuals and especially journalists,” adding that it purpose “was to keep it from being used by the executive branch to reward friends and punish enemies.”
“If we lose the First Amendment we’ve lost everything in this country,” Wheeler said.
Darcy also spoke to Alfred Sikes, FCC Chair under George H.W. Bush, who warned that Carr is effectively acting in opposition to the constitution itself. “The First Amendment is foundational. It should be foundational not just in the Constitution, but in the way the FCC acts,” Sikes said.
Their criticism is unlikely to result in a change of course at the FCC, however, as Carr made clear to Darcy in a combative, trolling and insulting reply typical of Trump and the people in his employ.
According to Darcy, Carr first responded to a request for comment with a meme mocking the fact that it was only 3 former Chairs who spoke out. He then followed up with a longer statement that Darcy printed in full.
“I do feel bad for the three of them, though. I gotta imagine it’s hard when the curtain is closing on your career and yet you’re still yearning for one more moment in the limelight. I’m glad that you’re helping them out by getting their names in print again,” he said in part.
The statement continues along these lines and also accuses the three without evidence of conducting their own crusades against political enemies. It also continues Trump’s tradition, since embraced by tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, of describing efforts to prevent Trump from spreading lies and disinformation about the 2020 election as a form of censorship. Read the whole statement here.
The post 3 Former FCC Bosses Condemn New Chairman’s Attacks on Press: ‘If We Lose the First Amendment We’ve Lost Everything’ appeared first on TheWrap.
