Kevin Martin Defends His Management of The FCC
The ex-FCC chairman took aim at a House government oversight subcommittee report released last month
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/21/2009 7:39:09 PM
Current ex-FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has reached out from beyond his resignation to defend his management of the agency.
In a letter and voluminous response, dated Jan. 19 but posted Jan. 21, on the FCC Web site, the day after Martin resigned as chairman and commissioner, he took aim at a House government oversight subcommittee report released last month.
He said the report, which criticized his management of the agency, ignored relevant information and contained mischaracterizations and errors.
Martin also took yet another shot at cable--and the wireless industry as well--saying he thought the report mirrored the "vehement opposition of the cable and wireless industries to my policies to serve and protect consumers."
It is not clear why Martin waited until his last official day, but said he felt it necessary to "correct many of the staff report's errors and mischaracterizations" and asked that his response be made part of the official record.
A spokesperson for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who headed the investigation, was unavailable for comment.
Among Martin's assertions are that the congressional report, which was only endorsed by Democrats (Martin is a Republican), used selective quotes to create the misleading impression that he had manipulated a report that concluded a la carte was a workable business model for cable.
He also said the committee had erred in concluding that he had manipulated a competition report to conclude cable had reached a concentration threshhold triggering new regulation.
Martin also released a lengthy report last week listing what he saw as the FCC's successes in "protecting consumers and promoting competition."
