A few months ago, Must Read Alaska highlighted the confirmation hearings of Gigi Sohn, President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve on the Federal Communications Commission. Sohn faced intense grilling from Senate Republicans, led by Alaska’s Dan Sullivan, over her long history of inflammatory, divisive, over-the-top attacks on conservatives.
Particularly alarming from a candidate for the FCC, who would be the nation’s top regulator of broadcast, cable, and broadband internet services, were Sohn’s repeated attacks on conservative media. Also concerning is her open encouragement of using the power of the federal government to bully, silence, or simply shut down outlets like Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting, whose political views she doesn’t agree with.
Now, Sohn is back in the news and reminding First Amendment advocates why she has no business within 1,000 miles of an FCC seat.
Axios recently reported that Sohn’s nomination appears in deep trouble as several moderate Democrats seem unwilling to blindly follow Biden’s lead on such a radical nominee. Everyone from the Fraternal Order of Police to former Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp have strongly condemned Sohn as unfit for the position.
But in Washington, nothing’s ever over until it’s over. As Sohn’s nomination continues to hang by a thread, she’s reminding conservatives all over again why she represents perhaps the single most pernicious threat to the First Amendment out of any federal nominee.
Breitbart reported earlier on Sohn’s recent headlining of a virtual event organized by supporters of her nomination, who openly bragged in their invitation that confirming Sohn would empower her to “break up Sinclair Broadcasting’s right wing propaganda machine” and target Rupert Murdoch’s media companies, including Fox News. The Columbia Bugle, a conservative Twitter news account, posted a screenshot of the group’s invitation.
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan called Sohn out months ago for suggesting the FCC should use its authority to shut down conservative news outlets, and at the time Sohn dissembled, pretending she had no idea what he was talking about. But behind closed doors, when they think no one else is around, she and her supporters appear to be much less shy about hiding her real agenda.
Sohn’s nomination appears likely to collapse under its own weight. Vulnerable Democratic senators are clearly hoping to avoid having to go on the record voting for such an extreme, out-of-touch nominee.
Here in Alaska, Sen. Sullivan is already on record as a staunch opponent of Sohn’s nomination. Sen. Lisa Murkowski hasn’t had to weigh in yet either way, but even on her most “moderate” day it should be a bridge too far for her to support an FCC nominee with such clear contempt for the First Amendment – particularly when several of her Democratic colleagues aren’t even willing to back Sohn.
Suzanne Downing is publisher of Must Read Alaska.
