Of course!
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a deal to “fast-track” globalist billionaire George Soros’ purchase of over 200 radio stations in 40 markets just weeks before the presidential election.
The commission’s three Democrats voted in favor of the purchase while the two Republicans on the commission voted against it last Wednesday.
According to FCC regulations, a months-long national security review is supposed to take place before such a purchase is approved because Soros’ ownership would exceed a 25% stake, but the agency reportedly waived that rule for the first time ever.
From the New York Post:
Under existing FCC rules, foreign company ownership of US radio stations is not supposed to exceed 25%. Soros took foreign investment to make his bid and then made a filing asking the commission to make an exception to the usual review process, according to public documents.
The FCC decision to fast-track his deal is the first time in modern history such a deal has been approved by the full Commission without first running the national security review process—a process that could take up to a year or more.
The Soros group says they will come back to the FCC at some point in the future to run that process.
The Soros Fund Management in February bought up $400 million of debt into Audacy, the nation’s second-largest radio company, which operates stations like New York’s WFAN and 1010 WINS, Los Angeles-based KROQ, as well as a handful of conservative shows from hosts including Sean Hannity, Dana Loesch, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and Erick Erickson.
Soros’s stake is equal to about 40% of the company’s senior debt — while not a majority stake, it could still effectively give him control of the media giant when it emerges from bankruptcy, sources say.
An FCC spokesperson insisted that “no decision is final until the Commission releases it, which we have not.”
“The Commission has a long-standing process for reviewing transactions that involve emergence from bankruptcy,” the spokesperson added, noting that the application before the Commission pertains to a transfer from Audacy in bankruptcy, to Audacy post-bankruptcy.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr blasted the agency’s decision as a political ploy that benefits the far-left billionaire.
“The Commission has never signed off on something like that without first running a national security review, but we apparently do…for the first time ever simply to benefit the Soros group, it seems like,” Carr told conservative host Dana Loesch on Monday.
“In my position, it’s been pretty simple: let’s apply normal, our normal rules. What’s so special about this particular transaction that merits an unprecedented shortcut at this time of year?”
Loesch asked, “It wouldn’t be the election, would it?”
“No comment on that one,” Carr replied with a chuckle.
Whether Soros will use these radio stations to exert his influence on public opinion in the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election remains to be seen, but that prospect seems likely.
