New Actor: Voice of America Journalists Sue Kari Lake
On March 23, four Voice of America veterans — Barry Newhouse, Ayesha Tanzeem, Dong Hyuk Lee and Ksenia Turkova — filed a federal lawsuit in Washington against Kari Lake, the U.S. Agency for Global Media and acting CEO Michael Rigas. They say the defendants violated the First Amendment and the legal firewall that protects VOA’s editorial independence by steering coverage into pro‑Trump propaganda.
The suit points to VOA Persian airing an hour‑long retrospective on Trump’s first year back in office, with Lake appearing on‑air to praise him. It says editors censored references to protesters chanting for Reza Pahlavi and fired a contributor who mentioned him.
It alleges Ali Javanmardi delivered on‑camera monologues aligning Iranians’ interests with Trump’s agenda and urging continued protests. It also says AP and Reuters contracts were canceled and a deal was pursued to carry One America News content.
The complaint says VOA’s Mandarin service republished White House talking points as news and that Iran war coverage omitted death tolls from U.S. strikes while barely mentioning a school bombing. The plaintiffs seek a jury trial and a permanent injunction, and PEN America and Reporters Without Borders joined the case.
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