Harry Reid Opposed WH on Net Neutrality, Aide's Emails Show

Last year, Sen. Harry Reid's top aide lobbied the White House against adopting net neutrality rules, newly released emails show, taking a stand that ended up being contradicted when Reid and President Barack Obama approved the rules this year.

Emails written last year by David Krone, who was Reid's chief of staff while the Nevada Democrat was Senate majority leader, have been made public by the House Oversight Committee, reports The National Journal.

Their release was part of House hearings that began Tuesday to determine if the White House had interfered with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its ultimate decision on net neutrality.

Krone clashed often with the White House before he resigned from Reid's office earlier this year, including telling The Washington Post last year that Democrats lost in the November general election because of Obama's unpopularity.

In one of his emails on net neutrality, written to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in May, Krone said he had spoken with the White House "last night and told them to back off Title II [of the Communications Act]."

The section, written back in 1934, gives the FCC broad powers and would allow it to regulate Internet providers much as it does phone companies. Wheeler also favored avoiding the Title II regulatory powers, a step which net neutrality advocates feared would allow special "fast lanes" for websites that can afford to spend more money.

Krone followed up with another email to Wheeler, telling him that White House Executive Council Director Jeffrey Zients was "overreacting" to the plan, and that he wondered "how can you declare today that regulations written in the 1930s will work for 2014 technology."

But in November, Obama called for the FCC to set the "strongest possible rules" based on Title II and, last month, Reid backed the president's plan after the FCC approved the new regulations.

The pair of Krone emails were among several that Republican investigators are unveiling while trying to show White House interference with an independent agency, reports The Hill. They also show the divide between Reid's office and the Obama administration.

The emails were released as House Republicans began a series of hearings Tuesday concerning allegations that there were secret White House meetings pressuring Wheeler to adopt the net neutrality rules on Internet providers, reports recode.net.

During the hearing, several other FCC emails and agency calendars were presented suggesting the White House had been consulting with Wheeler on the proposed rules for months.

He denied in a written statement to the Oversight Committee that there were secret instructions on the net neutrality rules, as Democratic lawmakers defended Wheeler and praised the new guidelines.

The FCC's Inspector General is also holding an investigation into how the net neutrality rules were devised, said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a claim the FCC hasn't confirmed or denied, reports recode.net.

House investigators said Tuesday that Wheeler visited the White House nine times to meet with officials, but just one meeting was reported in the FCC's public system.

Wheeler said he discussed several topic with officials, including airwaves auctions and trade deals.

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