Enlarge / Then-President Barack Obama and Tom Wheeler, his nominee for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, in May 2013. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Obama publicly called on the FCC to reclassify broadband providers as “Title II” common carriers and impose the rules in November 2014, three months before the FCC vote did just that. But an investigation last year by the FCC’s independent Inspector General’s (IG) office found “no evidence” of improper use of power by the White House when then-Chairman Tom Wheeler led the net neutrality vote, a newly released document shows.

“We found no evidence of secret deals, promises or threats from anyone outside the Commission, nor any evidence of any other improper use of power to influence the FCC decision-making process,” the IG’s August 2016 report said of Obama’s role in the decision to classify broadband providers as common carriers and impose net neutrality rules.