Dems Turn-Up The Heat On FCC's Pai

Ajit Pai

In a possible preview of things to come, a group of House Democrats sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Tuesday demanding answers about when he found out that the agency's claims of being the victim of a cyberattack last year turned out to be false.

According to The Hill, the revelation came in an inspector general report released last week, which said that the FCC falsely claimed that its comment filing site crashed as the result of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, when in fact the deluge of comments that brought the system down was likely prompted by a pro-net neutrality segment on late-night comedian John Oliver's HBO show.

"Given the significant media, public, and Congressional attention this alleged cyberattack received for over a year, it is hard to believe that the release of the IG's Report was the first time that you and your staff realized that no cyberattack occurred," four House Democrats wrote in a letter to Pai.

"Such ignorance would signify a dereliction of your duty as the head of the FCC, particularly due to the severity of the allegations and the blatant lack of evidence," it continues. "Therefore, we want to know when you and your staff first learned that the information the Commission shared about the alleged cyberattack was false."

Pai's spokeswoman did not respond when asked for comment, but we can expect the chairman to be grilled about it on Thursday when he heads before the Senate Commerce Committee for an oversight hearing.