WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, following major federal court victories ordering the full reinstatement of the Voice of America and its oversight agency the United States Agency for Global Media, four VOA employees and three leading press freedom organizations filed a new federal lawsuit to stop ongoing censorship and prevent its future illegal use on news reporting at VOA. This new suit differs from the pending lawsuits to restore VOA insofar as its exclusive goal is to stop the Trump administration from making VOA little more than a propaganda outlet.

By law, VOA must function as an independent media organization, free of outside political interference. Judge Royce Lamberth explained in his March 17 orders voiding Trump administration efforts to dismantle USAGM and VOA, through specific statutory provisions, “Congress prescribes that USAGM’s ‘broadcasting shall include news which is consistently reliable and authoritative, accurate, objective, and comprehensive,’… and ‘information about developments in each significant region of the world.’” Since his inauguration, President Trump has ignored these commands by putting in place managers, among them Kari Lake, whom plaintiffs allege have actively censored VOA’s reporting.

Named as defendants are USAGM, recently appointed USAGM Acting CEO Michael Rigas, and Kari Lake, who purported to occupy that role until March 7 when Judge Lamberth ruled that her appointment and all of her actions were legally void. The three press freedom organization plaintiffs are PEN America, Reporters Sans Frontières, and Reporters Without Borders, Inc. The four individual plaintiffs are Barry Newhouse, until recently the acting director of the Voice of America Central News Division, Ayesha Tanzeem, director of VOA's South & Central Asia Division, Dong Hyuk Lee, chief of VOA’s Korean Service, and Ksenia Turkova, a VOA journalist.

The plaintiffs are jointly represented by Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, Democracy Defenders Fund, Government Accountability Project, and Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.

CLIENTS

“PEN America has relied on VOA’s courageous reporting for decades in our work defending writers and journalists around the world who have been threatened, harassed, and imprisoned by regimes trying to silence them,” said Summer Lopez, co-CEO of PEN America. “Until the unconstitutional acts of the Trump administration, VOA has long served as a vital source of independent reporting and information in authoritarian countries. Allowing this administration to gut VOA, disrespecting and dismissing the journalists who so often report at great risk to themselves, and twisting the remnants into a propaganda tool for its own agenda has deprived people around the world of accurate, fact-based reporting where and when it is most needed. That must stop now.”

"The court has reaffirmed what we knew all along: that Donald Trump and Kari Lake’s attempt to dismantle VOA and USAGM was illegal. The fight is not over, though. The Trump administration has made clear that if it can’t eliminate VOA, it wants to turn it into a political propaganda machine, cheerleading Trump’s agenda. That is at odds with VOA’s mission to inform millions around the world who lack regular access to authentic, trustworthy journalism. We are continuing this fight because we believe that everyone deserves access to reliable information, and we’re proud to stand beside our co-plaintiffs in this case. It’s time for Donald Trump and Kari Lake to stop their illegal attacks on press freedom and let VOA’s journalists get back to their jobs,” said Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders Inc.

“Today, we filed a complaint against the U.S. Agency for Global Media to protect the integrity of VOA programming and fight the government’s unlawful interference in our news reporting.

A credible, independent VOA is not just a legal requirement — it is a national interest. For decades, VOA has represented America's commitment to freedom of the press to audiences who are denied this right in their own countries. Allowing that legacy to be compromised from within serves no one — least of all the United States.

Through VOA’s journalism, those living in authoritarian societies get a taste of democracy. They learn that those in power should be held accountable. Without editorial independence, VOA will be no different than government mouthpieces they are used to in their own countries.

Our complaint, Newhouse v. USAGM, strengthens ongoing cases against USAGM, including Widakuswara v. Lake and Abramowitz v. Lake. We bring this action because we believe it is our duty — and our legal obligation — to defend VOA's editorial independence and restore its credibility,” said the individual plaintiffs, Barry Newhouse, Ayesha Tanzeem, Dong Hyuk Lee and Ksenia Turkova.

COUNSEL

“For more than 80 years, Voice of America has served as a beacon of freedom and a source of reliable news for people around the world. That mission reflects a core American principle: freedom of the press. It is a bedrock of our constitutional order and one of America’s defining calling cards abroad. The Trump administration’s censorship of VOA’s news content, and its efforts to convert VOA into a partisan mouthpiece, are flatly illegal, contrary to U.S. foreign policy interests, and morally wrong. This case, led by brave journalists and backed by renowned press freedom organizations, exposes those actions and will put a stop to them,” said Andrew G. Celli, Jr., Partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.

“Getting VOA and USAGM employees back to work was an incredibly important step--but there is much more work to be done. Now we are building on that case with this new one to assure VOA's content is independent as Congress mandated. A free press is the bedrock of democracy both at home and abroad. It is against the law for these journalists to be censored and muzzled,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), Executive Chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “We are proud to continue to stand with these reporters and other coalition members as we continue this critical fight.”

“At the end of President Trump’s first administration, USAGM and VOA employees brought this kind of lawsuit to stop the President’s then-appointee from using VOA as a propaganda tool. They won.  The President’s new appointees are at it again, but now much more so.  We expect to win again,” said David Z. Seide of Government Accountability Project.

“Congress required editorial independence for VOA’s journalists.  It flatly prohibited political interference with VOA’s reporting and affirmed that the First Amendment’s protections for gathering and reporting the news apply fully to VOA’s journalists. Sadly, this lawsuit is necessary because the Administration believes it is unbound by the mandates of Congress or the Constitution. Its efforts to replace the reporting of facts it dislikes with political propaganda that extols the President must not stand,” said David Schulz of Yale Law School Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic.

A copy of the federal complaint filed today can be found HERE.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.

Government Accountability Project is the leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, Government Accountability Project’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government, corporate, and international organization accountability. Founded in 1977, Government Accountability Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.