Pompeo accuses VOA of “demeaning America” ​​in speeches erupted by whistleblowers as “political propaganda”

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Pompeo made personal comments to a command audience of VOA employees despite the Covid pandemic, urging them to report that “this is the greatest nation the world has ever known.” Pompeo didn’t mention the pandemic, the insurgent violence that turned the Capitol on its head last week and left five dead, or President Donald Trump’s role in encouraging the chaos.

The speech was broadcast live worldwide on VOA channels in more than 40 languages ​​in what the Government Accountability Project, a group representing VOA whistleblowers, called “a violation of law, rule and policy.” No questions were allowed after the comments or the brief on-stage conversation with VOA director Robert Reilly that followed, giving Pompeo the opportunity to unchecked Trump’s policies.

The speech amplified concerns that Michael Pack, Trump’s appointee to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which manages money flows for VOA and other services, intends to reduce it to the government’s mouthpiece, a move that many would undermine the credibility and integrity of the media activities under the USAGM umbrella.

VOA staff had been told the speech would be about “the importance of VOA and the challenges facing the United States in the world today,” said GAP’s letter sent to Pack and Reilly on Jan. 8.

The whistleblowers accused Pompeo’s actions to violate the legal firewall that protects journalists and editors of VOA from outside political interference. “A broadcast speech by the outgoing Secretary of State on topics he has received a lot of attention for should be seen for what it is: using VOA to spread political propaganda in the waning days of the Trump administration,” wrote David Seide, senior. advisor to the Government Accountability Project.
VOA’s charter states that the agency will be “accurate, objective and comprehensive” and that it will “represent America, not a single segment of American society, and therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of important American thoughts and ideas. settings.”

Pompeo took a different view on Monday, emphasizing that “your mission is to promote democracy, freedom and American values ​​in the world”. After the Berlin Wall fell, he argued that VOA “lost its commitment to its founding mission. His broadcasts were less about telling the truth about America, and too often about humiliating America.”

It is not fake news for you to broadcast that this is the greatest nation the world has ever known. I am not saying you should ignore our mistakes. Acknowledge them, ”Pompeo said. “But this is not the Vice of America, which focuses on everything that is wrong with our great nation. It is certainly not the place to platform authoritarian regimes in Beijing or Tehran.”

Pompeo also claimed it was “morally wrong” for VOA personnel to object to his speech, using the whistleblower complaint as an excuse to start a culture war against the journalists listening to him in the room.

“We are all part of institutions with higher duties and responsibilities than us. And this kind of censorship instinct is dangerous. It’s morally wrong. And it’s against your mandate,” Pompeo claimed. Minutes after VOA journalists seemingly suggested that they shift their coverage of the US to more positive news, Pompeo said: “Censorship, vigilance, political correctness, it all points in one direction – authoritarianism disguised as moral justice. what we’re seeing on Twitter, and Facebook, and Apple, and on too many college campuses. “

David Kligerman, the general counsel at USAGM, until he was forced out by Pack last month, said Pompeo’s reprimands of VOA journalists betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of the agency’s mission and played right into the hands of the authoritarian nations. like China, which he criticized in his speech.

The Secretary’s allegations that VOA “has a culture of censorship, vigilance and political correctness in the wake of stories Pompeo considers unfavorable is unfortunately consistent with a greater assault on the press that we have long seen by this administration”, said Kligerman. It is a dangerous trope, especially for the Secretary of State, to broadcast to the public in unfree countries, such as China, Iran and Russia, that we serve – that journalists must draw the party line. It is also a fundamental misunderstanding about the mission. of the Agency, as set out in the Agency’s empowerment statute. “

Pack, who took charge as CEO in June and is under investigation by the DC Attorney General, made sweeping allegations of bias against VOA employees and waged what some executives called a pro-Trump “ purge. ”

Pack’s actions were scrutinized by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and legal actions by affected individuals. In a notable First Amendment case last month, a federal judge ruled that the Pack and his team are prohibited from interfering in the newsroom.

And last month, the federal watchdog Office of Special Counsel discovered what it called “a significant likelihood of misconduct” at the agency, and ordered Pack to conduct an investigation.

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