A lawsuit has been filed by American Voice (VOA) workers, reporters, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) against the Trump administration, alleging that the shutdown of US-funded media violated several laws and demanding the court to restore VOA.
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York by RSF and six VOA reporters against the US Global Media Agency (USAGM), VO’s parent company, including Victor Morales, a coach, and adviser Kalilake Patsy Widakuswara, director of the White House at VOA, is the main plaintiff in the case.
The plaintiffs claim that the administration’s efforts to terminate the press violate the First Amendment rights of VOA employees and are seeking to have the USAGM grant restored and funding resumed for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle East Broadcast Network (MBN).
"In many parts of the world, there is no other important source of objective news, leaving only news media sponsored by censored countries to fill the void," the plaintiff said in the lawsuit.
"The defendant is violating all of these laws by shutting down USAGM and completely suspending the business of gathering news and opinions and spreading through VOA and its sister service radio, Martí.\"
The plaintiffs also claimed that the decision to eliminate USAGM has shocked many VOA staff. "What’s going on with VOA journalists isn’t just the erosion of First Amendment rights. It’s the closure of government-sponsored journalism, and the restrictions before it was killed on content before it was created," the plaintiff said in a court filing.
Trump’s decision to eliminate USAGM has been met with resistance from VOA staff, with some saying it would burn authoritarian governments around the world with limited or non-existent freedom of the press.
"Reporters around the world are celebrating this and laughing at us," a VOA staff member told The Hill this week. "Everyone is so sad because so many of us have dedicated our lives to spreading truth where the light is not shining."
Republicans argue that VOA spreads left-wing propaganda and should be repealed. Trump chose Lake, a former Arizona governor candidate who leads the news agency, as a senior adviser at USAGM.
She supported Trump’s executive order, claiming that the agency was "irreparably broken," with people within it "talented" being the exception rather than the rule.
"This institution from top to bottom is a huge corruption and burden on American taxpayers (a national security risk in this country) and is irreparably broken," she wrote Monday morning.
"There are bright spots for agencies with talented and dedicated civil servants, but this is an exception, not a rule,"
RFE/RL has also filed a lawsuit against Lake and the Trump administration over a push to refund outlets. The plaintiffs in the suit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. claimed that the outlet’s funds were suspended immediately and they were unable to receive the latest $7.4 million invoice.
"Whether or not to pay the funds as per the directions of the Budget Act and whether or not these funds can be used through grants as per the directions of the International Broadcast Act are not options for an agency to make," the lawsuit said. "It’s the law. Emergency remedies are necessary to force agencies to comply with the law,"
A USAGM spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
