A former Republican Congressman from Colorado has warned that a foreign country could bribe or “incentivize” the FCC to regulate and “rein in” popular conservative news outlets, including The Drudge Report.
Former Rep. Tom Tancredo, in an opinion piece for The Hill, started out his shocking warning by downplaying the so-called Russian actors who may have spent a measly $100,000 with social media giant Facebook in exchange for ads that hurt Hillary Clinton.
Tancredo not only correctly noted that such a small amount of money could not have actually altered the election, he also destroyed the notion that the American establishment is “surprised” by the idea of a foreign government trying to influence an election.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this month that his company sold over $100,000 in social media advertising to a Russian government-controlled front group during the 2016 election cycle. While that amount is a relative pittance and critics are saying the ads were poorly produced — where is Bill Maher when you really need him? — the discovery has raised alarms.
It’s ironic, of course, that America’s media elites are suddenly alarmed, considering that the CIA and intelligence agencies abroad have engaged in similar activity for decades. But putting that aside, what if the bigger danger comes not from amateurish foreign advertisers, but from foreign governments seeking to influence the American regulatory agencies meant to act as the citizens’ watchdogs?
The former congressman then gets to the crux of his warning, asking a very pointed question to the reader that unfortunately sounds all too plausible in this day and age.
Could a foreign government — such as Russia, Ukraine, or Mexico, for example — bribe or “incentivize” a federal agency such as the Federal Election Commission to regulate (or “rein in”) conservative news websites?
The truth could be
