On Thursday night in Washington, DC, net neutrality advocates gathered outside the annual Federal Communications Commission Chairman’s Dinner to protest Chairman Ajit Pai’s impending rollback of net neutrality rules.
Inside the dinner (also known as the “telecom prom”) at the Washington Hilton, Pai entertained the audience with jokes about him being a puppet installed by Verizon to lead the FCC.
Pai was a Verizon associate general counsel from 2001 to 2003, and next week he will lead an FCC vote to eliminate net neutrality rules—just as Verizon and other ISPs have asked him to.
At the dinner, Pai played a satirical video that showed him planning his ascension to the FCC chairmanship with a Verizon executive in 2003. The Verizon executive was apparently Kathleen Grillo, a senior VP and deputy general counsel in the company’s public policy and government affairs division.
The speech was apparently not supposed to be public, but Gizmodo obtained footage of Pai’s remarks and the skit. You can watch it here.
Brainwashing a Verizon puppet
Pai introduced the Verizon skit with these remarks:
In collusion, I mean conclusion… sorry, Freudian slip, my bad. Many people are still shell-shocked that I’m up here tonight [as chairman]. They ask themselves, “How on Earth did this happen?” Well, moments before tonight’s dinner, somebody leaked a 14-year-old video that helps answer that question, and in all candor I can no longer hide from the truth.
The video then rolled. Here’s a transcript:
Verizon executive: “As you know, the FCC is captured by industry. But we think it’s not captured enough. We want to brainwash and groom a Verizon puppet to install as FCC chairman. Think Manchurian Candidate.”
Ajit Pai: “That sounds awesome.”
Verizon executive: “I know, right? There are only two problems. First, this is going to take 14 years to incubate. We need to find someone smart, young, ambitious, but dorky enough to throw the scent off.”
Ajit Pai: “Hello.”
Verizon executive: “So you will do it?”
Ajit Pai: “Absolutely. But you said there was another issue?”
Verizon executive: We need to find a Republican who can win the presidency in 2016 to appoint you FCC chairman. I think our best bet is an outsider, but I have no idea who that would be. If only somebody can give us a sign.
At that point in the video, a picture of Donald Trump appeared.