Letter to Garmin, Trimble and John Deere - Regarding LightSquared

Letter

In keeping with a pledge, Sen. Chuck Grassley today asked for documents from three companies that make or use Global Positioning System devices regarding their communications with the Federal Communications Commission on an agency waiver granted to the wireless company LightSquared.

Grassley's letters to Garmin, Trimble and John Deere come after he asked LightSquared and Harbinger Capital for documents regarding their interaction with the FCC and the White House. LightSquared and Harbinger declined to provide documents, saying Grassley had not made a similar request of the GPS community.

In October, Grassley's office said that if it meant LightSquared and Harbinger are going to respond fully to Grassley's request for documents, then Grassley would make document requests to Garmin, Trimble and John Deere. After weeks of negotiations, LightSquared and Harbinger agreed to comply with Grassley's document request. However, LightSquared and Harbinger have delivered only a portion of the documents so far.

Grassley is working to gauge whether the FCC is doing its job in the public interest to vet the LightSquared proposal. The agency has generated questions over its rush to grant approvals to the company for a proposal that would create broad and in some cases dangerous interference with the GPS devices used widely by the U.S. military, aviation, agriculture, and first responders. The GPS community has already indicated its willingness to comply fully with the requests.

Grassley's letters to the GPS companies are available here, here, and here.

Dear Mr. Berglund, Mr. Kao, and Mr. Allen:

On October 5, 2011, I wrote a letter to Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital Partners and Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of LightSquared, requesting documents regarding their interactions with the federal government related to LightSquared's attempt to create a terrestrial wireless network. Mr. Falcone and Mr. Ahuja responded through their lobbyist, Mark Paoletta on October 19, 2011, declining to provide documents because they claimed that I had not made a similar document request of the GPS community. The next day, my office issued the following statement: "…if it means LightSquared and Harbinger are going to respond fully to Senator Grassley's request for documents, then document requests from Senator Grassley to Garmin, Trimble and John Deere will be sent today."

However, representatives from LightSquared and Harbinger then refused to provide documents, even if I made similar requests to the GPS community. After six weeks of further negotiations, Harbinger and LightSquared finally committed, on December 1, 2011, to comply with my October 5, 2011, request if I made a similar request of the GPS community. About two weeks after that, on December 12, they finally began providing some of the requested documents.

My focus on this investigation has not changed, and I am aware of no allegations concerning the communications of the GPS community with the FCC about the LightSquared waiver. I am simply making this request consistent with the statement my office made in October 2011.

Ultimately, the FCC needs to be open and transparent regarding their dealings with LightSquared and Harbinger Capital. There are still numerous questions about the FCC's decision to grant a waiver without transparency in a holiday-shortened time period, and the FCC's awareness of the mounting SEC charges pending against Mr. Falcone and other Harbinger Capital employees, among other issues.Therefore, in keeping with my October 20, 2011, statement and to complete the record and allow us to advance our investigation of the FCC, please provide all records relating to communications:

1. Between Trimble and the FCC, White House, or Department of Commerce regarding LightSquared's waiver.

2. Between firms or individuals retained by Trimble to represent Trimble as lobbyists or provide assistance representing Trimble before federal regulatory agencies (including but not limited to the FCC, the Department of Commerce, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy) and the FCC, White House, or Department of Commerce regarding LightSquared's waiver.

According to your counsel, I understand that you intend to comply with this request. I appreciate your commitment to cooperate fully and would appreciate a response by January 25, 2012. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Chris Lucas for the Committee on the Judiciary at (202) 224-5225.

Sincerely,

Charles Grassley

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