Voice Of America

Trump Flunky Kari Lake is Blocked From Abolishing Voice of America in Scathing Court Ruling

Posted by on September 30, 2025 at 1:18 pm. 0 Comments :

The most media averse president in American history, Donald Trump, has been smacked down in court as his designated regime censor, Kari lake tried to muzzle Voice of America, one of the most effective platforms for American news broadcasts around the world, particularly to countries that shut off free, independent reporting.

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Donald Trump

Trump recruited Lake to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) after she lost races for both governor and senator in Arizona. While Trump’s FCC boss, Brendan Carr, is strangling free press domestically, Lake is the foreign flank of Trump’s media gagging team. Her electoral defeats triggered some very Trump-like accusations of “rigged” elections and fraud that she was completely unable to prove. So naturally, Trump embraced her and gave her a position in his regime from which she could spew propaganda worldwide. Whereupon she immediately fired hundreds of VOA journalists and replaced them an ultra-MAGA, Trump-fluffing network.

SEE THIS: Trump Flunky Kari Lake Taps MAGA Propaganda Network, OAN, to Be the Voice of Voice of America

Fortunately, the efforts of Trump and Lake have been stifled by the courts. In a new ruling Lake was chastised for “concerning disrespect” toward the court for failing to produce information about its plans for Voice of America. But it was even worse than that. The judge also scolded Lake’s lawyers saying that they “wasted precious judicial time and resources and readily support contempt proceedings.” As reported by CNN…

“A federal judge agreed Monday to temporarily suspend the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of jobs at the agency that oversees Voice of America, the government-funded broadcaster founded to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II.

US District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., ruled that the US Agency for Global Media cannot implement a reduction in force eliminating 532 jobs for full-time government employees on Tuesday. Those employees represent the vast majority of its remaining staff.”

This ruling follows a previous judgment wherein Lamberth halted Lake’s attempt to fire VOA director, Michael Abramowitz. And for the record, Lamberth is not some “radical” jurist (as Lake called him). He was nominated to the bench by conservative Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

The USAGM oversees multiple international broadcasting networks, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Television Martí, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Voice of America (VOA). Their broadcasts are heard around the world in an effort to extend US influence and combat authoritarianism.

No wonder Trump hates it. Anything that would interfere with his own aspirations of authoritarianism triggers his wrath. He is employing methods that he’s learned from his idols and mentors, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and others who have suppressed free speech in their countries.

That’s why Trump has been busy banishing media outlets that dare to challenge him from the White House press corps. He is also suing news organizations for billions of dollars. And he’s even trying to force comedians off the air (Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, etc.) for telling jokes about him. Before he’s done, Putin and the others will be taking lessons in authoritarianism from him.

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Trump Flunky Kari Lake is Blocked From Silencing the Voice of America By a GOP-Appointed Judge

Posted by on August 29, 2025 at 3:00 pm. 1 Comments :

High on the priority list for Donald Trump in his second occupation of the White House has been his fierce determination to subjugate the media to his will. He has endeavored furiously to clamp down on the free press and to reshape the White House press corps into a slobbering cabal of sycophants.

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Statue of Liberty, Blind, Muzzled

In the process, Trump installed blindly loyal and unflinching servants to his anti-democratic and flagrantly censorious agenda. Among them was the failed Arizona gubernatorial and senate candidate, Kari Lake. Trump created a new position for her to reign over what used to be the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees multiple international broadcasting networks including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Television Martí, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Voice of America (VOA). And Lake began immediately to dismantle the entire operation and/or redefine its mission to become a Trump Propaganda Disseminator.

SEE THIS: Trump Flunky Kari Lake Taps MAGA Propaganda Network, OAN, to Be the Voice of Voice of America

Fortunately, the Trump/Lake Department of Disinformation suffers from the same inherent flaws that have hobbled almost every other government agency over which Trump rules: terminal stupidity and incompetence. And as a result, it is struggling to complete its unholy mission of strangling one of the most effective international news networks ever conceived. As reported by NPR (another network that Trump is trying to destroy) reported that…

“A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Trump administration official Kari Lake can’t unilaterally fire the director of Voice of America, saying she’s breaking the law in trying to do so.

“Instead, by law, Lake must have the explicit backing of an advisory panel set up by Congress to help insulate the international broadcaster and its sister networks from political pressure. As President Trump dismissed six of the seven members of the panel shortly after taking office and has not named their replacements to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Lake cannot take such an action.”

Lake and her Justice Department lawyers were humiliated in court when U.S Senior District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that “The defendants do not even feign that their efforts to remove [director of VOA, Michael] Abramowitz comply with that statutory requirement, There is no longer a question of whether the termination was lawful.”

Lake expressed confidence that she would prevail on appeal because “elections have consequences.” Which is precisely the sort of rank politicization that the law was crafted to avoid. Then she made an obtuse and irrelevant reference to the Constitution and called Lamberth a “radical.” Never mind that he was appointed to the bench by conservative icon Ronald Reagan. Lamberth warned the Justice Department attorneys that they were “verging on contempt of court” for failing to provide information that he had demanded for months.

It remains to be seen how this matter will resolve. Trump has demonstrated that he is not averse to ignoring judicial mandates. Which is why the rule of law is in such a precarious state under the wannabe dictator currently smelling up the Oval Office. But at least the courts are remaining true to the law and the Constitution – for now. And if the people and their representatives remain stalwart in defense of American principles, we will prevail in the long run. Keep hope alive!

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Trump Flunky Kari Lake Taps MAGA Propaganda Network, OAN, to Be the Voice of Voice of America

Posted by on May 7, 2025 at 12:33 pm. 1 Comments :

From the very first day that Donald Trump reoccupied the White House, he has orchestrated an assault on the free press and any journalistic effort to report the truth about him. There is nothing that irks him more than accurate reporting of his wrecking of the economy and his contempt for the Constitution.

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Donald Trump, OAN

Trump’s anti-media crusade has taken the form of banishing news outlets like the Associated Press from all presidential events, and stacking the White House press corps with sycophantic Trump-fluffers…

SEE ALSO: Trump Declares Himself King of the White House Press Corps, Will Now Decide Who Can Question Him

The Trump regime’s campaign to undermine the free press is not limited by international borders. He put one of his most fervent cult devotees, Kari Lake, in a position to control the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees multiple broadcasting networks that inform people in countries that have no other source for reputable news. The networks under the auspices of the USAGM include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Television Martí, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Voice of America (VOA).

Now David Folkenflik is reporting for NPR (an American public broadcaster that Trump is trying to defund) that “Kari Lake says OAN’s far-right coverage will fuel Voice of America.” Folkenflik writes that…

“Senior presidential adviser Kari Lake appears to have resolved any doubts about what she wants to do with the Voice of America. Lake seeks for it to look and sound a lot like the far-right One America News Network.”

[Lake said that] “the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is excited to announce a partnership with One America News Network (OAN) to provide newsfeed services to USAGM networks, including Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Radio Martí, and Voice of America (VOA). […] I can ensure our outlets have reliable and credible options as they work to craft their reporting and news programs.”

The notion that Lake can ensure the VOA outlets of “reliable and credible options” by teaming up with one of the most dishonest purveyors of ultra-right propaganda would be laughable if it weren’t so harmful. And since she has already put the staff of VOA and the other USAGM networks on indefinite leave, OAN will be the only source of news for the these networks.

The “quality” of reporting by OAN is notoriously untrustworthy. After all, they hired former GOP representative, MAGA Matt Gaetz, as a primetime host after he crashed and burned as Trump’s attorney general nominee. And they have been the subject of massive defamation lawsuits, one of which they already settled, admitting that their reporting was false.

MORE HERE: OAN Concedes that ‘There Was No Widespread Voter Fraud’ to Settle Defamation Lawsuit

VOA insiders are justifiably appalled. Their White House bureau chief, Patsy Widakuswara, said that “Congress mandated VOA to report reliable and authoritative news, not outsource its journalism to outlets aligned with the president’s agenda.” And the former CFO of USAGM, Grant Turner, said that “Kari Lake providing One America News Network to our global audiences makes a mockery of the agency’s history of independent non-partisan journalism.”

It is entirely understandable that honest journalists would be disgusted by Trump and his lackey, Lake. But it is not unsurprising that the Trumpists would exploit and abuse their power to spread their disinformation to the world. They are already doing it here at home. Fortunately, however, they are losing in the courts, and in the court of public opinion. But we must remain vigilant and resolved to resist the totalitarian Trump agenda if we are to prevail.

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Voice Of America Silenced In Baghdad

Posted by on May 24, 2006 at 10:22 am. NO Comments :

The Baghdad bureau of the Voice of America closed six months ago when it’s last reporter left due to security concerns. Alisha Ryu asked to be transferred after an attack that killed a member of her security detail.

Iraq is the world’s most dangerous country for the media, with 69 fatalities since 2003. The closing of VOA is just the latest example how difficult it is to get reliable news out the country. The VOA could not say when there might be another reporter assigned to Baghdad but Ryu was quoted as saying that there were no volunteers.

Ryu has published stories detailing occurances of abuse and torture by Shiite militias in conjunction with Interior Ministry prison authorities. These reports may have targeted her for retribution.

While the VOA ostensibly operates independently, it is an arm of the U. S. government and is required by its charter to “present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively.” If they can’t keep the mood upbeat, I don’t see why any other news organization (other than Fox) can be expected to do so.

The Bush administration is fond of complaining that the media is ignoring all the positive stories in Iraq. It must be hard to ferret out all those postitive stories when you can’t even leave your hotel without getting kidnapped or shot at or killed. Jill Carroll, Bob Woodruff, and 69 disembodied souls can attest to that. If the environment is so dangerous that field reporters, an uncommonly sturdy bunch, can’t be recruited, it puts the lie to the administration’s lament that there is an abundance of good news that is just being missed.