Ex-Officials' Lawsuit Says Trump-Appointed CEO Broke Laws At Voice Of America
Five suspended officials at the U.S. Agency for Global Media are suing the agency, its new CEO and several of his most senior aides, alleging they are breaking the law — routinely — in pursuing a pro-Trump agenda for the Voice of America news service.
The primary defendant, CEO Michael Pack, was nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in early June after a tumultuous process that lasted more than two years. Since beginning the job, Pack has sidelined executives and fired leaders at Voice of America and the other government networks he oversees. He has also moved to investigate and even punish journalists responsible for certain stories about Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and the racial justice protests that roiled the nation this summer.
In one example included in the lawsuit,, a senior adviser to Pack who has frequently tweeted praise for the president and criticism of Biden, asked the chief of Voice of America's Urdu service for detailed explanations of the network's coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement. Dewey asked why damage caused by rioting was not more heavily covered. According to the lawsuit, Dewey said, "[A]re there videos that contain some of the statements by Attorney General [William] Barr on these issues?"
