Sen. Blackburn Sounds Alarm on Biden FCC Pick Gigi Sohn: 'Dishonest,' 'Radical Nominee'

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) condemned one of Joe Biden’s more controversial nominees on the eve of her second Senate hearing, Gigi Sohn, who has been nominated to serve a five-year term at the FCC.

The Senate Commerce Committee held a second hearing on Sohn’s nomination today amid continued controversy over recusal issues and her track record of partisan statements.

(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Gigi Sohn (Chip Somodevilla /Getty)

In a statement released last night, Sen. Blackburn accused Democrats of trying to push through a radical nominee.

“Not only has FCC nominee Gigi Sohn threatened to use the federal government to silence conservative outlets, but she’s failed to be upfront about her business dealings,” said Blackburn.

“Democrats are trying to push through a radical nominee who was dishonest about her conflicts of interest.”

As Breitbart News has reported before, Sohn has a history of embracing far-left smears against Republicans, has called Fox News a “state-sponsored propaganda network,” and called for the censorship of conservatives.

As an FCC commissioner, Sohn would be in a position to influence which broadcasters have a license, and have rulemaking authority over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that is inextricably linked to Big Tech censorship.

As her nomination battle has dragged on, Sohn’s ties to various organizations including the shuttered nonprofit broadcaster Locast and the advocacy group Public Knowledge, which Sohn co-founded, have been examined.

Following concerns from the National Association of Broadcasters, Sohn agreed to recuse herself from some broadcast issues. But this has created new concerns, raised by lawmakers at the hearing — if one of the five FCC commissioners is recused, it will make it that much harder for the commission to issue regulations on those matters.

Another concern, raised by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), is that the logic of Sohn’s first recusal suggests she should recuse herself on other issues as well, raising the question of whether she would be a lame duck commissioner.

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.