Republicans, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, challenged Biden’s pick for an open seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Gigi Sohn, at her third nomination hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee.
The FCC oversees interstate and international communication and has long been saddled with a vacant fifth seat, leaving the Commission with two Republicans and two Democrats. Sohn appeared at two prior nomination hearings and has come under fire for her qualifications and conflicts of (political )interest.
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Senator Ted Cruz argued Sohn failed to meet the standards for an FCC regulator.
“There is a reason why we’re on our third nomination hearing for Miss Sohn. Both during this process and in previous positions she has shown herself to be a partisan, who lacks the impartiality and candor necessary to serve in a leadership position at a powerful independent regulatory agency.”
Cruz went on to elaborate on Sohn’s ethics concerns. Sohn remained on the board of a company called Lowcast, which had been subject to a lawsuit. After the suit was settled, Cruz claims that Sohn “actively misled” senators in her description of the settlement and its dollar value. The reason? Cruz claims it’s because it was a “sweetheart deal.”
While a federal judge initially made the settlement amount of 32 million dollars after Sohn became Biden’s nominee, that number was lower by “98%” by the suing broadcasters to just 700,000, presumably to get in her good graces. Cruz also pointed to Sohn’s connection to far-left causes, such as Defund the Police, as examples of poor judgment.
Cruz also highlighted Sohn’s conflicts of interest regarding the FCC job requirements.
“Ms. Sohn portrays herself as a defender of free speech but has a history of campaigning to censor conservatives. She calls Fox News ‘dangerous to our democracy’ and has urged the FCC to revoke Sinclair’s broadcast licenses. At the same time she has a history of fighting against indecency regulations that protect children from filth on TV. To Ms. Sohn it seems that conservative speech is worse than obscenity.”
Senator @tedcruz's Opening Statement At Confirmation Hearing For Biden's Radical Pro-Censorship FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn
"Ms. Sohn portrays herself as a defender of free speech, but she has a history of campaigning to censor Conservatives." pic.twitter.com/lEQOWZ84tk
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) February 14, 2023
Moreover, Sohn has made financial donations to Democrat Senators voting on her confirmation while running for office. While her nomination was pending, a glaring issue Cruz was sure to touch on during his opening statements.
“Just this past year, while her nomination was pending, Ms. Sohn was making multiple financial donations to Senators who were charged with voting on her confirmation. Had this been done by a Republican nominee I have no doubt that my Democrat colleagues and their media allies would be apoplectic at this point.”
Cruz claimed that no other nominee has ever donated in this way. When given a chance to respond, Sohn defended her actions as not a failure of judgment, calling the donations totaling over a thousand dollars “relatively small.”
Senator @tedcruz Calls Out Biden's Radical Pro-Censorship FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn For Giving Political Contributions To Senators During Nomination Process@SenTedCruz: "Do you think that it is poor judgment to cut checks to Senators who are voting on your nomination while it is… https://t.co/kaaXZZWHEh pic.twitter.com/Y9p1QOKyY9
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) February 14, 2023
Sohn has repeatedly rebuked the attacks otherwise, calling them misleading and claiming they’re merely a stall tactic.
“Unfortunately, that is the exact intent of the past 15 months of false and misleading attacks on my record and on my character.”
Aside from grilling Sohn in the Senate, Cruz tweeted a stinger ad against Sohn, again pointing out her partisan history.
Meet Biden's FCC nominee Gigi Sohn. pic.twitter.com/YJHoLu2zd4
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 14, 2023
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