Key Points
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal has renewed demands for FCC records concerning the Trump administration’s actions involving press freedom, free speech and media consolidation.
- Blumenthal alleges the FCC has failed to produce records requested by Senate investigators on three previous occasions.
- The senator wants the FCC to begin producing documents by November 30, with additional records provided under an agreed schedule.
A top federal lawmaker has accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its chairman Brendan Carr of failing to produce records related to a number of investigations into the agency, and has given Carr and his staff a final opportunity to produce those documents on a voluntary basis.
In a letter dated November 5, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut accused the FCC of failing to cooperate with an inquiry conducted by Democratic members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which has sought information from the agency for more than a year.
Blumenthal, the subcommittee’s Ranking Member, directed the latest request to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Acting Enforcement Bureau Chief Hunter Deeley and Acting Media Bureau Chief Alexander Sanjenis. The senator said the agency had failed to meaningfully respond to earlier requests that were issued in March 2025, July 2025 and February of this year. According to Blumenthal, the Commission has not produced any records responsive to those requests.
The investigation concerns actions by President Donald Trump and the FCC that Democratic investigators believe could undermine constitutional protections for free expression and the press, including matters involving federal media ownership regulations.
The FCC has carried out a number of actions at the behest of Trump, to include stonewalling — and then approving — Paramount’s acquisition by Skydance Media last year after Trump settled a lawsuit against Paramount-owned CBS News; targeting the Walt Disney Company and its ABC broadcast network on a number of occasions, including after a late night host delivered a politically-tinged monologue that disparaged Trump’s political supporters; and fast-tracking the approval of Nexstar Media Group’s $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA after Trump expressed support for the transaction.
“Throughout this period, despite repeated requests directed to you or your predecessors, the FCC has failed to meaningfully respond to the Subcommittee’s requests and has not produced any records responsive to these requests,” Blumenthal wrote earlier this week.
The senator instructed the agency to begin providing responsive records by November 30, with additional documents submitted according to a schedule established with subcommittee staff. He also requested that FCC officials follow specified document production procedures to ensure the records can be accessed and reviewed.
Blumenthal warned that failure to voluntarily produce the requested information by early January could result in additional congressional action. That would likely involve a subpoena sent to Carr and other FCC officials that effectively force them to produce the records sought by lawmakers.
Last month, Carr said he wasn’t concerned with possible investigations or subpoenas issued by lawmakers following the outcome of the November midterm election, which was already projected to favor Democratic campaigns.
“I’m always happy to work with anybody when we’re aligned on the right types of policy outcomes,” Carr said after the FCC’s open meeting. “We’ve had a lot of congressional oversight already.”
