Back in February I told you about Light Squared: “According to The Washington Times, Genachowski brokered a deal with a company called LightSquared to offer new wireless internet service. Venture capitalist corporatist Philip Falcone is a major investor in LightSquared, and he’s also a big donor to Democrats. LightSquared needed a waiver from the FCC because it wants to operate its network using ground frequencies rather than a satellite link. The FCC stealthily granted the waiver after a comment period that occurred over the Thanksgiving holiday. The problem, LightSquared’s networks interfere with GPS!” (Read the whole thing.)
At the time, I was thinking about how many drivers rely on GPS to find their destinations and how this would cause quite a few headaches for unsuspecting travelers. Well, LightSquared’s ground frequencies can also jam up military GPS. Air Force General William Shelton was called to testify before Congress last week, and according to The Daily Beast, he was pressured by the White House to alter his testimony.
The episode —confirmed by The Daily Beast in interviews with administration officials and the chairman of a congressional oversight committee —is the latest in a string of incidents that have given Republicans sudden fodder for questions about whether the Obama administration is politically interfering in routine government matters that affect donors or fundraisers. Already, the FBI and a House committee are investigating a federal loan guarantee to a now failed solar firm called Solyndra that is tied to a large Obama fundraiser.
Now the Pentagon has been raising concerns about a new wireless project by a satellite broadband company in Virginia called LightSquared, whose majority owner is an investment fund run by Democratic donor Philip Falcone.
According to officials familiar with the situation, Shelton’s prepared testimony was leaked in advance to the company. And the White House asked the general to alter the testimony to add two points: that the general supported the White House policy to add more broadband for commercial use; and that the Pentagon would try to resolve the questions around LightSquared with testing in just 90 days. Shelton chafed at the intervention, which seemed to soften the Pentagon’s position and might be viewed as helping the company as it tries to get the project launched, officials said. (Read More)
The lengths this administration will go to in order to reward their crony capitalist friends is stunning. Can you imagine if this was a republican administration? The president would have been impeached by now.
Of course, Light Squared executives say they have almost solved the problem, which they blame on the GPS companies. Does that mean they’re also blaming the US military?
Update: You’ll never guess where LightSquared advertises – Think Progress!
Tags: donors, General William Shelton, GPS, LightSquared, military, obama
This is called suborning testimony. Judges sentence people to jail for this stuff.
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Forcing a military leader against his will to promote technology that interferes with our highly prolific and encrypted GPS system… sounds like Benedict. It’ll be interesting to see who’s boat he jumps on before it’s all over.
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THe Solar Panel Green company debacle leaving the Taxpayers to pay the the million dollars to cover bankrupty is serious . However more serious with National Defence of the USA at stake . Changing Gen Shelton’s statement by the White House to favor Light Squared a company proposing a Broad band ground link system which the company would aff more clients. The broblem is the broad band width of their proposed system would interfere with adjacent transmissions one of which is the GPS sattelite homing system.It was stated that of 40 receivers located at different places 31 receivers failed to blank out the broadband signal, even with installed RF filters.Our GPS defence systems attacked would be compromised. Consider the incompetant in the White House be impeached and the FCC and Light Squared stop production and testing of this system.
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