White House forced me to back project funded by Obama donor, Air Force general tells secret Congressional hearing



General William Shelton claims he was pressured

Relates to wireless project by satellite broadband firm

Pentagon concerned signals could interfere with GPS

LightSquared's majority owner is Democratic donor

A four-star Air Force general told a classified Congressional hearing he was pressured by the White House into changing a political briefing to favour a Democratic-backed firm.

Air Force Space Commander General William Shelton was speaking about a wireless project by Virginia satellite broadband company LightSquared.

The Pentagon believes it could interfere with GPS - but the firm’s majority owner happens to be Democratic donor Philip Falcone’s hedge fund.

'Pressured': Air Force Space Commander General William Shelton was speaking about a wireless project by satellite broadband company LightSquared

Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees the GPS issues, claimed there was an attempt to ‘bias' the general's testimony.

The White House allegedly asked General Shelton to firstly change his testimony to say he supported policy for more commercial broadband.

Officials told the Daily Beast it also asked him to say the Pentagon wanted to resolve questions on LightSquared with testing in only 90 days.

But General Shelton was angry at the intervention - which could be seen as trying to help the company launch the project, officials claimed.

Company boss: LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja denied that his Virginia technology firm was using politics to have an influence on regulation

LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja denied to the Daily Beast that his company was using politics to have an influence on regulation.

'If you put a rock band in the middle of that quiet neighbourhood, that’s a different circumstance' Air Force Space Commander General William Shelton

He said their broadband plans have been delayed for a year and they have put $100million towards finding a solution to the GPS issue.

The problem is tens of thousands of ground stations for a wireless network could drown out the GPS signal, reported the Daily Beast.

'If you put a rock band in the middle of that quiet neighbourhood, that’s a different circumstance.’ General Shelton told Rep. Turner’s committee.

Political influence: The majority owner of satellite broadband firm LightSquared happens to be Democratic donor Philip Falcone's hedge fund

The White House confirmed it had suggested changes to the testimony but insisted this was routine and not influenced by politics.

Mr Ahuja has given just over $30,000 to both the Democratic and Republican parties in the last two years, reported the Daily Beast.