WASHINGTON -- Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee escalated a running battle with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, issuing a report that faults how he has run the agency and preparing the ground for changes in how it will be run under the Obama administration.The report, issued Tuesday by Energy and Commerce Oversight subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) and departing committee Chairman John Dingell (D., Mich.), accused Mr. Martin and his staff of manipulating and withholding information from the other four FCC commissioners and lawmakers. It also said he created "a climate of fear" among staff at the FCC, which regulates telecommunications.
Although Mr. Martin will step down as chairman when President-elect Barack Obama takes office next month, his term as an FCC commissioner expires in 2011. He has declined to discuss his plans.
A House subcommittee report issued Tuesday accused FCC Chairman Kevin Martin of creating "a climate of fear" among the agency's staff.
FCC spokesman Robert Kenny said Mr. Martin is reviewing the report. "It appears that the committee did not find or conclude that there were any violations of rules, laws or procedures," Mr. Kenny said. Mr. Martin called the report a personal attack on him for aggressively monitoring cable-industry pricing. "I don't think the process is different than it has been," he said.
The list of allegations in the 26-page report focuses on the way Mr. Martin expanded his control of the agency's operations, faulting him for a "heavy-handed, opaque and non-collegial management style."
The report is likely to fuel efforts by Democrats to overhaul the agency, which has generated bipartisan grumbling from industry, consumer groups and lawmakers.
The yearlong investigation began as a bipartisan effort, but Republicans withdrew their support and the report represents the findings of the committee Democrats.
The report cites an exchange between Catherine Bohigian, one of Mr. Martin's staffers, and Daniel Shiman, an FCC economist on the career staff, about how cable-television prices would be changed if channels were offered "à la carte."
"The conclusion of this report is supposed to be that à la carte could be cheaper for consumers," Ms. Bohigian wrote. When Mr. Shiman resisted that conclusion, Ms. Bohigian wrote that "the report cannot conclude that à la carte would likely raise most cable bills with fewer channels delivered. If that is going to be the conclusion, we need to stop now."
