Meredith Baker said she sat out the past month’s worth of votes as an FCC commissioner, starting...

conflicts of interest (WID May 13 p8) between regulating Comcast and going to work for the cable operator, whose deal to buy control of NBCUniversal she voted to approve in January. Several opponents of government regulation who supported the Comcast-NBCUniversal deal said in interviews Friday that they saw no problems with Baker’s decision to become NBCUniversal’s top lobbyist. Until mid-April, “not once in my entire tenure” at the FCC “had anyone at Comcast or NBCUniversal approached me about potential employment,” said Baker, who was sworn in July 31, 2009. “When this opportunity became available in mid-April, I made a personal decision that I wanted to give it serious consideration” and “immediately” told FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick, she said. Starting April 18, Baker said she recused herself from all matters involving the two companies. Comcast has said it began speaking with Baker about the job around that date. “I have not only complied with the legal and ethical laws, but I also have gone further,” Baker said. “I have not participated or voted any item, not just those related to Comcast or NBCUniversal,” since she began considering a job there, Baker added. “I plan to depart the Commission as soon as I am able to ensure an orderly wind-down of my office.” Baker didn’t say if she participated in the consideration or discussion of any pending but not circulating items that indirectly affect Comcast or its subsidiaries. Media Access Project’s Andrew Schwartzman isn’t “particularly concerned” that Baker didn’t address her participation in such proceedings, he said. “Nobody is seriously disputing that she has adhered to the statutes and regulations as they exist,” said Schwartzman, senior vice president at the nonprofit that’s often opposed Comcast’s policy positions. “The principal problem here is appearances, and that’s counterbalanced by the fact that people who know her will assume that she has behaved with propriety,” he said. Comcast may not be the only beneficiary of Baker’s stints as a commissioner and at the NTIA, where she was acting administrator, said Associate Director Ryan Radia of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “To the extent that Comcast lobbies for sound public policies,” having Baker “communicating those policies to the regulators may help benefit consumers,” he said. “The notion that Meredith Attwell Baker is uniquely capable of asserting influence is naive. Every company with a D.C. presence that is subject to a significant degree of government relations has on staff many former government officials,” he noted. “Having influence is the name of the game -- whether it’s a commissioner or a college roommate, companies want to have traction.” The “perspective” Baker has gained from working for the government “will be beneficial” to Comcast, “or any other employer,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. “As long as she complies with all of the existing conflict-of-interest rules, which now are quite stringent, I don’t see any problem with her leaving,” he said. Baker’s not saying she recused herself “from her paycheck,” said President Craig Aaron of Free Press, which has sought to reform FCC procedures and often opposed Comcast. “I'm curious what she was getting paid to do during the month-long period between being approached about this job and today,” he added. “The revolving door, and how it prevents real public-interest policy from being made, is the real issue and why so many people are so disturbed by her actions.”