By SEAN MUSSENDEN
Media General News Service

WASHINGTON— House Democrats accused Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin Tuesday of “egregious abuses of power” following a year-long inquiry into the North Carolina Republican’s stewardship of the agency.

A report by Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce committee charged that Martin, a Charlotte native who was named chairman by President George Bush in 2005, created a culture of “distrust, suspicion and turmoil” at the FCC while mismanaging the agency and wasting taxpayer funds.

“He has destroyed the integrity of the FCC,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the committee’s oversight and investigations subcommittee.

FCC spokesman Robert Kenny downplayed the committee’s findings.

“It appears that the committee did not find or conclude that there were any violations of rules, laws or procedures following a year-long investigation,” Kenny said.

“Chairman Martin has followed the same procedures that have been followed for the past 20 years by FCC chairmen, both Democratic and Republican alike,” he said.       

Bush appointed Martin to the five-member panel in 2001 after Martin worked for the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign and transition office.  

Though Martin’s term as an FCC commissioner runs through 2011, his   chairmanship will end after Bush leaves office in January.  Martin has not indicated if he will remain on the panel when President-elect Obama names a new chairman.     

Martin, 41, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Duke University and Harvard Law School. He is widely believed to be considering a run for political office in North Carolina after his tenure on the FCC ends.

Over the last year, Democrats have questioned some of his dealings at the FCC, which could complicate his political future. North Carolina Democrats filed a public records request for records of Martin’s travel to North Carolina while at the FCC, suggesting he was using taxpayer money to lay the groundwork for a political campaign in his home state.   

In October, a budget watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, named Martin “Porker of the Month” for spending $355,000 to sponsor a North Carolina NASCAR driver’s car to raise awareness for the coming digital television switch.

The congressional report released Tuesday found that Martin “manipulated, withheld or suppressed data, reports and information” from other commissioners in a debate over regulation of cable companies.  

The report also accused Martin of  “lax at best” oversight of the finances of the Telecommunications Relay Service, which helps deaf and speech-disabled people make telephone calls. 

The report found that consumers were over-charged for use of the service, while the companies that provided it were over-compensated “potentially by as much as $100 million per year.”

Kenny said Martin wanted to ensure that disabled Americans had access to the service.

“The chairman makes no apologies for his commitment to serving deaf and disabled Americans and for fighting to lower exorbitantly high cable rates that consumers are forced to pay,” Kenny said.