Lifeline Disclosure

In a letter dated April 15, 2016, to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) asked that the FCC address concerns raised by him regarding the potential violation of 47 C.F.R. § 19.735-203, pertaining to disclosure of "nonpublic information. . . directly or indirectly, to any person outside the Commission," as a complaint requiring an investigation pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 19.73 5-107(b). Specifically, Chairman Thune expressed concern that information regarding the 2016 Lifeline Modernization Order, 31 FCC Rcd 3962 (2016), specifically news of an agreement among FCC Commissioners O'Rielly, Pai and Clyburn to vote for a hard cap on Lifeline spending set at $2 billion (the "deal" or "compromise"), appeared in the news media publications Politico and Broadcasting & Cable prior to the FCC's vote on the Lifeline Order.

Based on Investigators' review of phone records, email messages and interviews, Gigi Sohn, Counselor to the FCC Chairman, provided some of the information revealed in the Politico story that appeared at approximately 10:49 am on March 31, 2016. In an interview, Sohn revealed that Shannon Gilson, FCC Communications Director, requested that Sohn call Politico reporter Margaret McGill and inform McGill that the FCC meeting was delayed from 10:30 until 12:00 and that there was a compromise on Lifeline, including the fact that there would be an annual cap on the amount of money available in the Lifeline program. Sohn was instructed not to tell McGill the amount of the agreed-upon cap. In an interview, Gilson explained that throughout the morning of March 31st, the FCC Office of Media Relations had been inundated with calls from the press and that it was clear many reporters and stakeholders were already aware a deal was being crafted by Commissioner Clyburn and the Republican commissioners. Thus, because she felt it would be beneficial to get the story out accurately, Gilson sought and received authorization from Chairman Wheeler and Ruth Milkman, Wheeler’s Chief of Staff, to provide the press with high level details. Gilson exercised her discretion in choosing both Politico and McGill as the appropriate recipients of this information, and instructed Sohn to make the call. We have been unable to determine with certainty who provided McGill with the information on the amount of the agreed upon cap.

We found no evidence that the information was provided to the press in an attempt to unduly influence the outcome of the vote.