Politically savvy Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) Executive Vice President David Cohen professed to be surprised that the MSO's hiring of former FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker was a "national story." Comcast, he said, "bent over backwards to comply" with rules about Baker leaving the government post to become a private sector lobbyist.
Rather than skewering Baker and Comcast, Cohen suggested headlines should point out that the MSO is hiring her despite restrictions on what kind of lobbying she can do. "We hire for the long haul," he said.
Meanwhile, the criticism continued to pile up. ivi TV filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get any and all details--correspondence, files, records and e-mails--from Baker or her FCC staff relating to the live streaming company and its opposition to the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger that Baker voted to approve.
"It was clear during the visit that Commissioner Baker and her staff were staunch supporters of the merger and, in fact, her staff member read from a script which appeared to be prepared by Big Media attorneys," ivi TV said in a news release.
For more:
- The Hill has this story
- and this news release
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