{"id":1248914,"date":"2022-01-27T20:37:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T01:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1248914"},"modified":"2022-01-27T20:37:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T01:37:29","slug":"bidens-telecom-pick-gigi-sohn-pledges-to-recuse-herself-from-key-issues-amid-legal-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-telecom-pick-gigi-sohn-pledges-to-recuse-herself-from-key-issues-amid-legal-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden\u2019s Telecom Pick Gigi Sohn Pledges To Recuse Herself From Key Issues Amid Legal Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbidens-telecom-pick-gigi-sohn-pledges-to-recuse-herself-from-key-issues-amid-legal-dispute%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1248914&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Gigi Sohn, President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), pledged to recuse herself from key broadcast issues amid an ongoing legal dispute over her involvement with a shuttered streaming service.<\/p>\n<p>Sohn agreed to a temporary recusal on certain issues related to retransmission consent and television broadcast copyright if confirmed as FCC commissioner, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/555412258\/Gigi-Sohn-Recusal-Letter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a> sent to FCC general counsel P. Michele Ellison. Sohn pledged to recuse herself for the first four years of her term from issues related to retransmission consent rules that she helped craft, and from general retransmission consent and broadcast copyright matters for the first three years of her term.<\/p>\n<p>The recusal comes amid an ongoing dispute over Sohn\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/12\/13\/gigi-sohn-federal-communications-commission-locast-jon-tester-kyrsten-sinema\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">involvement<\/a> with Locast, a streaming service that retransmitted local television broadcasts over the internet. Locast was sued by broadcasters and was found to be in violation of copyright law, and the organization was ordered to pay statutory damages totaling $32 million. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/11\/12\/gigi-sohn-federal-communications-commission-ron-johnson-marsha-blackburn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Biden\u2019s FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn Wants To \u2018Silence Dissent,\u2019 Top Senate Republicans Say)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7264310\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7264310\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) listens to Gina Raimondo, nominee for Secretary of Commerce, during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in the Russell Senate Office Building on January 26, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tom Williams-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>However, one day after she was nominated, Sohn <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/01\/26\/gigi-sohn-fcc-locast-roger-wicker-joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">signed<\/a> a revised confidential agreement with broadcasters to cut the damages owed to roughly $700,000, and release herself and other enjoined parties from future liability. Sohn did not address the new deal during her committee hearing and testimony, and the discrepancies between her answers and the confidential agreement prompted Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, to call for a second hearing to resolve the matter, according to a Senate aide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuestions about Ms. Sohn\u2019s potential conflicts of interest have been dismissed as without merit by the White House and Ms. Sohn\u2019s friends in the telecommunications advocacy community. Now comes this unprecedented recusal,\u201d Wicker said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. \u201cThe FCC is too important to have a commissioner who cannot serve in a significant capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Senate Commerce Committee is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commerce.senate.gov\/2022\/2\/executive-session\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scheduled<\/a> to vote on Sohn\u2019s nomination, along with that of Federal Trade Commission pick Alvaro Bedoya, on Feb. 2. Every Senate Commerce Democrat has publicly <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/01\/12\/joe-biden-gigi-sohn-ftc-fcc-alvaro-bedoya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">backed<\/a> her nomination except Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMs. Sohn\u2019s recusal further underscores the need for a new hearing,\u201d Wicker said. \u201cSenators should be given the opportunity to question the contours and scope of the recusal, how it would impact the operations of the commission if Ms. Sohn is confirmed, and whether the recusal was developed in coordination with any third parties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), a broadcast trade group that pushed for Sohn to recuse herself on certain broadcasting issues, lauded her decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMs. Sohn\u2019s recusal agreement resolves the concerns NAB raised regarding her nomination,\u201d NAB said in a statement. \u201cNAB appreciates Ms. Sohn\u2019s willingness to seriously consider our issues regarding retransmission consent and broadcast copyright, and to address those concerns in her recusal. We look forward to the Senate moving forward with Ms. Sohn\u2019s confirmation and are eager to work with her and the full complement of commissioners in the very near future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gigi Sohn, President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), pledged to recuse herself from key broadcast issues amid an ongoing legal dispute over her involvement with a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1248914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}