President Obama Campaign Donor Wins FCC Waiver From Auction Rules

A private-equity company owned by a campaign donor to President Barack Obama won a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission that may help it bid in airwaves auctions.

Grain Management may not have qualified for benefits reserved for small businesses because airwaves leases to AT&T and Verizon Communications caused it to exceed the program’s income limits.

“Certainly there has not been a waiver like this,” Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a Georgetown University law professor, said. “The circumstances have not arisen” with the revenue of the largest wireless providers entering the picture.

David Grain contributed more than $60,000 to President Obama’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee in 2008, and $22,500 in 2012, Federal Election Commission filings show. He was also one of President Obama’s top fundraisers for the 2008 election, bringing in $200,000 to $500,000, according to the campaign.

“We are very excited about the waiver” because it appears to relax rules for companies other than Grain, too, and may help small and minority businesses participate in the forthcoming wireless auctions, Nicol Turner-Lee, vice president at the Minority Media & Telecom Council, said.