Multiple workers at #VoiceOfAmerica, an international #media broadcaster that operates in >40 languages, shared w/Reuters an email that placed them on administrative leave w/full pay & benefits "until otherwise notified."

The emails, sent by a HR executive at the #US Agency for Global Media, the #VOA's parent agency, instructed them not to enter their work premises or access internal systems.

#FourthEstate #law #FreePress #journalism #USpol #Trump #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda

The #USAGM also terminated funding for #RadioFreeEurope / #RadioLiberty, which broadcasts to countries in #EasternEurope, including #Russia & #Ukraine, as well as for #RadioFreeAsia, which broadcasts to #China & #NorthKorea, acc/to letters seen by Reuters.

#FourthEstate #law #FreePress #journalism #VOA #VoiceOfAmerica #USpol #Trump #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda

On its website, #RadioFreeEurope / #RadioLiberty notes that it has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian govt & warns readers in #Russia & Russia-occupied #Ukraine that they could "face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us."

#FourthEstate #law #FreePress #journalism #VOA #VoiceOfAmerica #USpol #Trump #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda

The move follows #Trump signing an #ExecutiveOrder on Friday instructing #USAGM & six other little-known agencies to reduce their operations to the bare minimum mandated by the law, saying it was necessary to *shrink bureaucracy* [stop informing the public].

Trump, who clashed w/the #VoiceOfAmerica during his 1st term, picked fmr news anchor #KariLake to be its director for his 2nd term. Lake, a staunch Trump ally, has often accused *mainstream* #media of harboring anti-Trump bias.

#law #USpol

The president of the #NationalPressClub in Washington, Mike Balsamo, released a statement on social media objecting to the moves at #VOA.

"For decades, #VoiceOfAmerica has delivered fact-based, independent #journalism to audiences worldwide, often in places where press freedom does not exist," Balsamo said.

The decision, he said, "undermines America's commitment to a free & independent press."

#FourthEstate #law #FreePress #USpol #Trump #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda

The Paris-based #ReportersWithoutBorders also blasted the move, w/its director general, Thibaut Bruttin, saying that it "threatens press freedom worldwide & negates 80 years of American history in supporting a free flow of #information."

#FourthEstate #law #FreePress #journalism #VOA #VoiceOfAmerica #USpol #Trump #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda

Some #Republicans have accused #VOA & other publicly-funded #media outlets of being biased against *conservatives* [liars, criminals & extremists]. Last month, billionaire #ElonMusk, who is spearheading #Trump's government *downsizing* [destruction] effort, called for VOA & #RadioFreeEurope / #RadioLiberty to be shut down in a post to social media.

#FourthEstate #law #FreePress #journalism #VoiceOfAmerica #USpol #censorship #propaganda #trumpaganda

In addition to #USAGM, #Trump's order also targeted the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service [#FMCS], the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars [#WilsonCenter], the Institute of #Museum & #Library Services [#IMLS], the US Interagency Council on #Homelessness [#USICH], the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund [#CDFIfund], & the Minority Business Development Agency [#MBDA] for cuts.

#idiocracy #law #FreePress #CivilRights #education #WhiteSupremacy #plutocracy

#Trump’s #ExecutiveOrder said those agencies should eliminate all operations not codified in #statute as well as "reduce the performance of their statutory functions & associated personnel to the minimum presence & function required by #law."

So far, #Musk's #DOGE has produced potential cuts of >100k #jobs across the 2.3M-member federal civilian workforce, the freezing of #ForeignAid, & the cancellation of thousands of programs & contracts.

#idiocracy #law #CivilRights #plutocracy #kleptocracy

On Friday, several #DOGE employees arrived at the #UnitedStates Institute of #Peace [#USIP], accompanied by 2 #FBI agents, according to Gonzo Gallegos, the institute's communications director. They left after a brief discussion about the institute's status.

The institute is not part of the federal #ExecutiveBranch, but is instead an #independent, #nonprofit agency that was established by #Congress in 1984.

#Trump #Musk #idiocracy #law #CivilRights #plutocracy #kleptocracy

Development on this report:

... “The US Institute for #Peace [#USIP] called the DC police on the #Musk team members [#DOGE] in an effort to stop them from trespassing because the institute has control of its own building & the land it sits on. But instead, the DC police allowed them to enter & kicked out the institute's officials.”

#law #democracy #USpol #Trump #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #tyranny
apnews.com/article/doge-trump-…

Trump administration guts board of US Institute of Peace. Group says DOGE arrives

The Trump administration has fired most of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace and sent its new leader into the Washington headquarters of the independent organization.

^{Matthew Lee (AP News)}

More

The United States Institute of #Peace #USIP is suing over #DOGE’s “lawless assault” on the #independent #nonprofit organization established by #Congress.

#law #Trump #Musk #ArmedBreakIn #TrumpPurge #AbuseOfPower
storage.courtlistener.com/reca…