FCC chairman Ajit Pai has tapped Rosemary Harold to head the FCC's Enforcement Bureau as chief. It will be a homecoming for Harold. The bureau investigates and takes action against unlawful conduct.
She is former legal advisor to then-commissioner Robert McDowell and has most recently been a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer. Michael Carowitz, who had been acting bureau chief, will be deputy bureau chief.
Harold joined McDowell's office in August 2008 as media legal advisor. She had been the deputy chief of the FCC's Media Bureau, and before that was with the communications firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding, which is headed by former FCC chairman Richard Wiley and has supplied numerous legal minds to the FCC, including former chairman Kevin Martin.
Her resume also includes journalist, both at the Miami Herald and as an editor with C-SPAN.
“Our Enforcement Bureau has been getting back on track in recent months, and I am confident in Rosemary’s ability to continue this progress," said Pai, who had been critical of some of the bureau's actions under his predecessor, Tom Wheeler. "Our enforcement efforts must be governed by the facts and the law, and Rosemary’s experience and expertise will help us conduct sound investigations and craft legally sustainable enforcement actions. This is especially important when it comes to FCC priorities like protecting consumers against illegal robocalls and confronting unlawful interference with broadcast licensees."
"Rosemary is an incredibly talented attorney who knows the intricacies of the FCC's rules better than anyone," said McDowell, now a partner and co-leader of the global communications practice at Cooley LLP. "This is an excellent choice by Chairman Pai. She will be judicious, impartial, thorough and fair. American consumers will be well served by her leadership of the Enforcement Bureau."
