Chuck Darwin<p>Voice of America staff sue Trump administration for shutting down network</p><p>Six Voice of America journalists sued Kari Lake and the Trump administration on Friday, <br />alleging their moves to shut down the U.S.-funded network were unlawful and unconstitutional.</p><p>The journalists say that the government’s acts violate their First Amendment rights on free speech grounds and usurp the U.S. Congress’s control of the power of the federal purse.</p><p>More than 900 full-time network employees were placed on indefinite leave last weekend; <br />550 contractors were terminated from their jobs. </p><p>Most employees at the federal parent, U.S. Agency for Global Media, were also placed on indefinite leave.</p><p>The lead plaintiffs include <a href="https://c.im/tags/Patsy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Patsy</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Widakuswara" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Widakuswara</span></a>, until recently Voice of America’s White House bureau chief <br />and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jessica" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jessica</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jerreat" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jerreat</span></a> , its press freedom editor. </p><p>Four other journalists sued anonymously as John Does. <br /><a href="https://c.im/tags/Kathryn" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Kathryn</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Neeper" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Neeper</span></a>, the director of strategy and performance assessment at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is also a named plaintiff. </p><p>She was also placed on leave.<br />Few Voice of America journalists are known inside the U.S.; <br />the network is prohibited from broadcasting to American audiences. </p><p>Nonetheless, Widakuswara made headlines twice: <br />First in pressing Trump’s then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in early 2021 over the siege of the U.S. Capitol <br />and, earlier this month, in asking Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin about “the president’s plans to expel Palestinians from Gaza” at an appearance with President Trump at the White House<br /><a href="https://whistleblower.org/in-the-news/npr-voice-of-america-staff-sue-trump-administration-for-shutting-down-network/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">whistleblower.org/in-the-news/</span><span class="invisible">npr-voice-of-america-staff-sue-trump-administration-for-shutting-down-network/</span></a></p>