FCC FOIA Case Approaching Possible Settlement
A Freedom of Information Act case against the FCC concerning documents that Sinclair submitted to the agency is close to a settlement, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (docket 1:21-cv-00895). "Parties have reached…
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an agreement in principle,” said a motion seeking a temporary stay in the case from the assistant U.S. attorney representing the FCC. The case concerns Media Action Center Executive Director Sue Wilson Cowan's FOIA request for documents connected with Sinclair’s unsuccessful proposed buy of Tribune Broadcasting, which was designated for hearing in 2018 under then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. In 2020, Wilson filed a FOIA request seeking document submissions by Sinclair that led to the FCC agreeing to a consent decree with the broadcaster that concluded it had acted in good faith during the Tribune proceeding. Before the consent decree, the FCC’s HDO in the case raised allegations Sinclair violated the FCC’s candor rules. Sinclair objected to the disclosure, and the FCC didn’t respond to Wilson’s October 2020 request until May 2021, when it denied it. The agency has since partially released some of the requested documents but then sought a protective order blocking Cowan from using the documents after the FCC incorrectly left some information unredacted. That protective order was granted in part in September.