WASHINGTON-The General Accounting Office said last week the Federal Communications Commission will rack up $14 million in back-rental costs by the time it moves into its new Portals headquarters this July.
However, there is increasing doubt about whether that move will take place.
The GAO report, mandated by the 1998 FCC appropriations bill, adds to the mushrooming controversy over the FCC relocation to the Portals, which is expected to move into a more serious stage soon.
The FCC recently told the General Services Administration, the government’s leasing agent, that it will not move to the Portals unless security is beefed up at the new location.
GAO said delays in the FCC move to the Portals were due, among other things, to GSA tardiness in contracting construction drawings and lack of funding from Congress. The FCC says $40 million is needed to complete the move.
Meanwhile, the House Commerce Committee is investigating whether lobbyist Peter Knight, former campaign manager for the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, received an illegal $1 million kickback from Portals developer Franklin Haney for helping to lock the FCC into a 20-year, $400 million lease.
Knight and Haney, both friends of Vice President Al Gore, may be subpoenaed to appear before the committee. Former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, another friend of Gore, could be pulled into controversy over allegations he subtly reversed his opposition to the Portals move when Knight became Haney’s lobbyist on the project. Hundt denies any wrongdoing.
