Democratic lawmakers have a message for Ajit Pai : Ignorance is no excuse .
in advance of aSenate oversight hearingthis week , where the FCC chair will look questions over the false statements he and his staff gave members of Congress , House members misguide by the FCC are need answers of their own .
Ina letteron Tuesday , Democrats on the Energy & Commerce Committee said they were “ deeply disturbed ” by the conclusions of anFCC examiner general paper , unloose last week , which incur that aged Federal Communications Commission officials had , for more than a year , misled Congress and the American public about an alleged cyberattack investigator say never occurred .
The investigating initially centered on what FCC officials said were “ multiple distributed denial - of - service ( DDoS ) attack ” beginning on May 7 , 2017 . Upon shape , however , that the attack never occurred , the probe switch to focalize on fake statements provide to Congress by FCC stave , including inaccurate chronicle of discussions with the Federal Bureau of Investigation .
https://gizmodo.com/when-did-ajit-pai-know-1828254203
While not explicitly acknowledging his own misstatement to Congress , Pai look for todistance himself from responsibilityone week ago by pinning the whole affaire on what he say was “ inaccurate information ” throw by his former chief info officer , Dr. David Bray . ( Bray was never interviewed about the incident , concord to a statement relay through a friend . )
“ Given the significant media , public , and Congressional attention this alleged cyberattack received for over a year , it is hard to believe that the discharge of the IG ’s report was the first meter that you and your staff realized that no cyberattack occurred , ” the Democrats ’ letter to Pai reads . “ Such ignorance would signify a dereliction of your duty as the point of the FCC , particularly due to the hardship of the allegations and the strident deficiency of grounds . ”
The letter is signalise by Rep. Frank Pallone , Jr. , ranking member of the Energy & Commerce Committee ; Rep. Mike Doyle , outrank fellow member of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology ; Rep. Debbie Dingell ; and Rep. Jerry McNerney .
We require solution about when @AjitPaiFCC knew no DDoS attack took shoes , and when@FCCknew they were n’t telling Congress the the true . My missive with@energycommercehere : https://t.co / QIvFvmOU0Ihttps://t.co/4vopunVb0f
— Rep. Debbie Dingell ( @RepDebDingell)August 14 , 2018
fourth-year GOP lawgiver on the Energy & Commerce Committee did not react to a request for comment .
The alphabetic character asks Pai to answer , before August 28 , when he and his chief of staff , Matthew Berry , first became mindful that the comment system issue were likely not because of a DDoS attack ; why he did not seek to decline his misrepresentation to Congress either in public or on a confidential basis ; and whether the examiner general ’s office had specifically asked him not to divulge that his assertion to Congress were false .
As of Friday , Pai had not been in contact with several lawgiver to whom he ply false information over the past yr , Gizmodoreported . With Republicans in the bulk , congressional Democrats have little authority to compel Pai to answer their questions .
“ It is troubling that you allowed the public myth create by the FCC to persist and your misrepresentations to remain undisciplined for over a twelvemonth , ” the Democrats ’ letter concludes . “ To the extent that you were aware of the misrepresentations prior to the firing of the Report and failed to correct them , such legal action constitute a wanton neglect for Congress and the American public . ”
Chairman Pai will appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce , Science , & Transportation on Thursday , August 16 , alongside fellow commissioners Michael O’Rielly , Brendan Carr , and Jessica Rosenworcel .
The FCC did not respond to a petition for remark .
make a wind about the FCC ? reach out to the author:[email protected ]
Read thefull letterbelow .
Ajit PaiSecurity
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