FCC Chairman Kevin Martin got slapped on the wrist in a new congressional report (PDF) from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that does little more than throw water under a bridge. Martin’s days are numbered at the FCC and President-elect Barack Obama is presumably vetting candidates to replace him when he takes office next month. The 110-page report detailed Martin’s alleged decisions to demote veteran staff, place inexperienced employees in top positions and cut other commissioners’ direct access to staff. But while the report is scathing, it really has no teeth and poses no real concern for Martin, who is on his way out.

The panel accuses him of manipulating and suppressing information from fellow FCC commissioners and members of Congress under a general abuse of power. Worse yet, it issued the report without the typical round of congressional hearings because “the climate of fear that pervades the FCC” meant that “witnesses were unwilling to testify or even to have their names become known.” The committee leveled some rather damaging charges at Martin, who’s been at the agency’s helm for three-and-a-half years. Martin’s management style – described as “heavy-handed, opaque and non-collegial” – “has created distrust, suspicion and turmoil among the five current commissioners,” the panel found.

The year-long investigation covered thousands of documents and interviews with current and former FCC employees, RCR reports. FCC spokesperson Robert Kenny downplayed the report’s findings despite the wide net it cast over Martin’s reign at the FCC: “It appears that the committee did not find or conclude that there were any violations of rules, laws or procedures following a year-long investigation… Chairman Martin has followed the same procedures that have been followed for the past 20 years by FCC Chairmen, both Democratic and Republican alike.” Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, said the “dysfunctional manner” by which the FCC does business has lead Martin to ignore evidence of badly mismanaged communications programs.