Yoo

An ostensibly independent witness at last week’s Senate hearing on the pending merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable has been accused of keeping quiet about his conflict of interest.

University of Pennsylvania Law School professor Christopher Yoo was nothing less than an enthusiastic cheerleader of the merger deal, claiming it would never jeopardize cable competition. No “independent” witness testified as fiercely in support of the merger as Yoo.

But Yoo never bothered to disclose he has ties to Comcast’s chief lobbyist David Cohen, seated five chairs to his right. Cohen is the chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Pennsylvania. Comcast also contributes to the university in Philadelphia, Comcast’s corporate home.

Yoo was suggested as a possible witness to the ranking member, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who formally invited him to testify.

“I was stunned to see the committee would allow it, because of at least the appearance of a conflict,” one observer told the NY Post. “It’s a little odd.”

A spokeswoman for Grassley said Yoo had been approved by both the majority and minority members of the committee.

The Cohen-Yoo Penn connection was likely not known, the spokeswoman said.

“The views of any other person in the university administration do not have any impact on my academic views or any public statements I make,” Yoo told the Washington Post in defense against the charges of conflict of interest.