A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) official has expressed concerns about the agency’s fast-track approval of a deal in which far-left activist financier George Soros will acquire more than 200 stations.
Soros bought Audacy for $400 million, the second-largest radio station owner (behind iHeartMedia) in the country. Soros invested in the company after it filed for bankruptcy with nearly $2 billion in debt.
Audacy stations broadcast several pillars of conservative thought, including Sean Hannity, Dana Loesch, Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and Erick Erickson…
Last week, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told the House Oversight Committee that
“The FCC is not following the normal transaction review process that it has had in place for several years. It appears to me that the FCC is prepared, for the first time, to create an entirely new shortcut.”
According to the FCC, the Federal Communications Act of 1934 “requires the Commission to review foreign investments in radio station licenses” and includes “specific restrictions on the holders of certain types of radio station licenses,” including that “foreign individuals, governments, and corporations” may not own “more than 20 percent of the capital stock of a broadcasting station, common carrier, or aeronautical radio station,” and a “25 percent threshold for investments by foreign individuals, governments, and corporations in entities organized in the United States that directly or indirectly control a U.S. broadcasting station, common carrier, or aeronautical radio station.” The FCC is authorized to grant exemptions to foreign individuals, governments, and corporations in entities organized in the United States that directly or indirectly control a U.S. broadcasting, common carrier, or aeronautical radio station licensee.
The New York Post added that Mr. Carr told him that
“Democrats leading the FCC cut a secret deal behind closed doors — one that kept Republican FCC commissioners and perhaps others in the dark — and then rushed it through on a Friday afternoon” in a 3-2 vote.
The move is alarming because it is the latest manifestation of Soros’s willingness to use his vast fortune to influence American politics. Among the causes the billionaire has funded are promoting legal abortion on demand around the world under the guise of “reproductive health care,” supporting the election of pro-Soros prosecutors in localities across the United States, pushing a “racial justice” agenda that includes the narrative that America is systemically racist, and promoting policies such as reparations for slavery and funding Democratic political candidates.
Last year, local news outlet Maine Public reported that the Soros-backed National Trust had taken control of Maine’s largest newspaper network, acquiring five dailies and 17 weeklies.
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