GOP staffers sensed Pelosi plot in temporary Fox News blackout

When Fox News programming mysteriously disappeared last week from televisions at the US Capitol, some Republican Congressional aides were quick to suspect foul play, according to a DC newspaper.

"Staffers looking for their daily dose of 'We report, you decide' coverage on Wednesday flipped to the usual channel, only to be surprised to find dead air," report Roll Call's Emily Heil and Anna Palmer. "Conspiracy theories, unsurprisingly, abounded."

Eyeing Democrats as likely culprits, some Republicans on the Hill suggested a far-ranging plot reaching even the highest levels of majority leadership. I sense Pelosis behind this, one finger-pointing GOP staffer told Roll Call of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Another Republican aide described the horrors of being compelled to watch other networks' news coverage during the work day.

"I was just forced to watch an MSNBC segment on going green by shopping at farmers markets," the withdrawal-afflicted staffer told the paper. "We need Fox back, stat."

But last Friday afternoon, when Fox News finally reappeared on the Capitol channel lineup, the explanation for its absence -- the "official" explanation, at least -- didn't quite match the intrigue of a Pelosi-mandated political silencing: The Hill had just been experiencing some minor technical difficulties.

"A Fox engineer explained that there was a technical glitch as the network shifted its feeds from analog to digital," reports Roll Call. "The receivers in the Capitol are being upgraded, too, he said, contributing to the problems. But all, he promises, is right again."

Read the full article in Roll Call (subscription required).



