Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai was on the defensive Thursday when asked at a Senate oversight hearing why he didn't correct the record sooner about an alleged cyberattack on the FCC at the height of last year's net neutrality debate.

Pai defended his decision not to talk about the findings of a report released last week by the FCC's Office of Inspector General, which determined there was no evidence such an attack occurred.

In a testy exchange between Pai and Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz from Hawaii, Pai said he'd had doubts but kept quiet because the IG's office asked him to stay quiet while it referred the matter to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation.

"I made a judgment," Pai said. "Even though I knew I'd be falsely attacked."