An advocacy group and journalist have accused the Federal Communications Commission of bad faith in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. They claim the agency is concealing Chairman Brendan Carr's use of the Signal messaging app on a phone used for government business.
Frequency Forward and Nina Burleigh filed the latest court document yesterday in US District Court for the District of Columbia. The filing alleges the FCC redefined search criteria without notice and failed to produce documents related to Carr's communications.
The original FOIA request was submitted in February 2025. It sought records on potential conflicts of interest involving the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, SpaceX, and Starlink's license applications at the FCC.
Plaintiffs asked the court to deny the FCC's motion for summary judgment and order document production within a week. They also requested permission to pursue discovery to identify responsive records.
The FCC stated in a June 3 filing that Carr had no phone numbers for DOGE personnel and that agency policy prohibits Signal on FCC phones. Plaintiffs countered that evidence shows an active Signal account under Carr's name.
