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Biden’s FCC pick cuts sweetheart deal with broadcasters the day after she’s nominated

[Gigi] Sohn previously worked as a director of Locast, a streaming service that transmitted local television broadcasts on the internet. The company was shut down in October 2021 after broadcasters sued and a judge ruled the service was in violation of copyright law. Locast entered into a settlement agreement with broadcasters requiring the service to pay $32 million in damages.

Biden nominated Sohn to an empty commissioner position at the FCC, which is tasked with regulating the broadcast industry, in late October; however, one day after she was nominated, Sohn signed a confidential agreement with broadcasters cutting the amount of damages Locast would pay to around $700,000, according to a copy of the agreement seen by Bloomberg Law.

The agreement also released Sohn and other enjoined parties in the lawsuit from liability, Bloomberg Law reported. 

“She was negotiating and/or executing a settlement agreement with regulated entities while an FCC nominee,” a former FCC official told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “There are some serious questions and appearances of impropriety here.”

(RELATED: Biden’s FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn Wants To ‘Silence Dissent,’ Top Senate Republicans Say)

Sohn has a well-documented history of antipathy towards Republicans and conservative media, tweeting that “Fox News has had the most negative impact on our democracy,” calling the station “state-sponsored propaganda,” and demanding a government “hearing” into its broadcasts. She also promoted a petition by left-wing advocacy organization Free Press urging the FCC to crack down on alleged misinformation surrounding COVID-19, citing specific examples from then-President Donald Trump and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.