Gigi Sohn’s third time before the Senate Commerce Science and Transportation Committee on Feb. 14 may not have been the charm. At least as far as Senate Republicans are concerned.
“She has shown herself to be a partisan associated with the most radical views of the far left,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking committee member.
President Joe Biden nominated Sohn in October 2022 to fill a vacant seat on the five-member Federal Communications Commission board. According to her supporters, she is an attorney with more than 30 years of relevant experience and an advocate for the public.
Committee Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said Sohn’s supporters include some conservative media outlets.
“These personal attacks are a distraction. Ms. Sohn has a history of putting the public first,” Cantwell said.
Cantwell said the opposition is mainly big media companies that want to eliminate competition and suppress free speech. She said the detractors were engaging in a proxy fight over net neutrality.
Locast Video Streaming
The main issue raised by Cruz, and other Republicans, had to do with Locast, a non-profit video streaming service owned by a company called Sports Fans Coalition. The service allowed users to pay for access to nearby antennas to view broadcast television programming. Sohn was on the Locast board.The company was sued by the parent companies of ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox for copyright infringement for $32 million but settled the case for $700,000 around the same time Sohn was nominated for the FCC position. Cruz said the timing and size of the settlement are questionable at best.
According to Cruz, Sohn failed to disclose the settlement at the time of her nomination. In addition, Cruz claimed she made political contributions to at least 12 senators who were set to vote on her confirmation.
“She actually misled senators about the details of the settlement,” Cruz said. “A basic requirement for public officials is trustworthiness.”
Sohn said the judge prohibited her from discussing the settlement, so she could not disclose it to the committee. Cruz read from the settlement that she was prohibited from speaking to the media or the press.
“The last I checked, the U.S. Senate is not the media or the press,” Cruz said.
Republicans also brought up social media posts she shared or wrote criticizing police, members of the Senate, and conservative media outlets. Sohn admitted to being associated with the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, Fight for the Future, and other groups on the political left.
She also acknowledged sharing or writing Twitter posts about former President Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brent Kavanaugh that could be considered racist.
Victim of Smears
Sohn countered that the posts were made in her role as a private citizen and had nothing to do with the FCC.“I made those comments in either my role as a private citizen or a public advocate, and they would have no bearing on how I would act as an FCC commissioner,” Sohn said.
Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) came to Sohn’s defense. He said she has been the “victim of smears, double standards, and personal attacks.” He said that for the past two years, the FCC has been divided and unable to progress on its biggest tasks, expanding broadband services to rural areas.
“Without Ms. Sohn, the FCC has been unable to take critical steps to bridge the divide,” Markey said.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) disagreed. At a press conference in which the Senate Republicans discussed their agenda, Thune said Sohn has a record of “far-left activism and rank partisanship.” He said the FCC has been functioning well, and the Senate should not confirm Sohn.
