The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) frequently puts out a call for comments as part of their decision-making process, and usually hears back from concerned citizens as well as “astroturf” industry-funded campaigns. In the case of the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable (TWC), however, Comcast posted a thank you to the politicians, organizations and businesses that submitted comments in its favor. An investigation of those letters, however, has revealed a number of politicians who’s comments were penned by Comcast employees, and simply signed off on, much like the situation where Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood sent a subpoena to Google which was later discovered to have been written by the MPAA’s law firm.
According to The Verge, email correspondence obtained through a public records request show the mayor of Roswell, Georgia corresponded with Comcast’s Vice President of External Affairs about the letter, with the latter writing all but one line (and the signature) of the letter submitted to the FCC. Likewise, many prominent officials who have a history of receiving campaign money from Comcast submitted letters to the FCC in support of the merger.
An example is Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, whose letter to the FCC was written by a Comcast Government Affairs specialist, except for three altered lines and a sign off. None of the politicians in question, a mix of Republicans and Democrats, have accepted requests to be interviewed, or made statements on the situation.
