Two top officials from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday said an attempt by House Democrats to pressure television carriers to de-platform Fox News and two other cable news channels was “troubling” because it seeks to “stifle political speech and independent news judgment.” FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington in separate statements responded to letters penned by two Democrat members on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that were sent to 12 cable, satellite, and streaming companies. “To the House Democrats that used their official letterhead to launch this inquiry, I would say this: Your demand to know the ‘moral principles’ that guide a private entity’s decision about what news to carry cannot be reconciled with bedrock principles of free speech and journalistic freedom,” Carr said (pdf). In their letters, the Democrat House members urged the companies to take steps they asserted would combat the spread of “misinformation.” Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna …