WASHINGTON – The man appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. global media agency seven Wednesday executives at the organization late Wednesday in a move that a former House Democrat called a bid to purge “government-funded media outlets.”
The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, rep. Eliot Engel, DN.Y., accused Michael Pack, who took over as chief of the U.S. Global Media Agency (USAGM) in June, of trying to express career officials who raised concerns about the legality of his decisions.
“Last night’s actions tasted of illegal revenge,” Engel said in a statement last Wednesday.
“I understand that a number of the individuals who have been granted have tried to make agency management aware of potentially invalid or unlawful actions during the first months of Mr. Pack in his position,” Engel said.
Pack seeks to “cleanse USAGM again of the apolitical, career officials who have helped ensure that the agency fulfills its mission to deliver incredible news and information around the world,” Engel added.
Asked about the changes in leadership and the reason for the decision, a USAGM spokesman said, “We are taking action to restore integrity and respect for the rule in working at USAGM. We will take additional steps to help bring this agency back to its glory days. “
It was not clear what the bureau meant by referring to “the rule of law” and the bureau of public affairs did not respond to requests to expand.
Pack has previously stated that he intends to uphold the principles of editorial independence at the Voice of America and the other international broadcasters overseen by his agency.
The New York Post first reported the personnel changes on Wednesday.
Pack also pleaded guilty to leaving the head of Voice of America’s Urdu service over a video criticized as biased in favor of presidential nominee Joe Biden, according to three congressional staff and a former employee. Engel did not mention that suspension in his statement.
In the VOA Urdu video, Biden appeals for Muslim-American voices. “I will end the Muslim ban on the first day,” Biden said.
Trump’s allies see the video as confirmation of their criticism of a proven advantage at the agency, but VOA defenders say the clip is the result of fires that have left the agency’s news stories rudderless.
Even before the last staff members moved in on Wednesday, Pack’s suspension of senior management positions had affected current and former staff, freedom of speech groups and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that the editorial independence of VOA and other US-funded media was at risk. , NBC News reported earlier.
Since being confirmed as CEO in a party-line vote in June, Pack has fired all heads of the four news outlets under his agency, as well as the members of the bipartisan boards that ruled them. Pack replaced the boards mostly by political supporters of the Trump administration, and named himself as chairman. He also resubmitted an editor for standards at VOA. Last month, the executive editor of Radio Free Asia was fired.
Pack also fired the bilingual board and chief executive of the Open Technology Fund, an organization for Internet freedom. The fund provides open source tools and applications – such as Signal and Tor – to people in dozens of countries – including China – seeking access to information in repressive circumstances.
Several current and former employees said they were concerned about Rep. Engel shared the suspension of seven officials, including the firm’s attorney general, chief financial officer and executive director.
The actions “are completely retaliatory for numerous and consistent issues and concerns they have raised to the Pack team about the misconduct, illegality and ethics of the things they do at USAGM,” said one former employee.
One of the concerns raised by lawmakers is central to the legal status of dozens of foreign nationals working as journalists at VOA. The Pack office says foreign personnel visas are being checked on a case-by-case basis, but some of the reporters’ J1 visas are due to expire within weeks and they have not heard from the front office, four current employees told NBC News.
The US-funded news outlets rely heavily on foreign journalists to translate reports on US events into dozens of foreign languages and cultivate local resources in their home countries. Some of them have potential consequences if they return to societies under authoritarian rule.
In a briefing with congressional staffers on Thursday, an official with USAGM did not provide a clear explanation as to why the seven senior managers were suspended, according to three congressional assistants.
Engel said he intends to ask the Inspector General’s office to launch an investigation into Pack’s action and warned that Pack was trying to turn the global media agency into an “ideological mouthpiece” to promote Trump for the elections in November.
A long-running dispute over security clearances at the agency could complicate any change of staff, and Pack seems to use the issue as a possible reason for cleaning houses, said current and former staff and congressional assistants.
Pack recently said he had commissioned an investigation into what he called systemic security flaws at the agency, referring to how staff were alerted and given security clearances. USAGM personnel rarely have access to classified information, but some receive security delays.
Last week, the Office of Personnel Management said the USAGM had stripped its authority to conduct and assess background checks for its employees. The federal agency has been flawed in assessing the media bureau since 2010, and has issued a series of reports in recent decades demanding that officials repair various problems.
It was unclear how Pack intended to handle security deals in advance.
USAGM did not respond to questions about that issue.
