On August 25, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., ordered Kari Lake, acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), and two others—Frank Wuco and Leili Soltani—to undergo depositions by September 15 regarding the shutdown of Voice of America (VOA).
The order, described as a “final opportunity” before a contempt trial, aims to enforce Lamberth’s April ruling to restore VOA’s programming, which ceased on March 15 after 83 years.
Lamberth, appointed by President Reagan, ruled that Lake and the Trump administration overstepped by defunding VOA and Radio Free Europe, despite Congressional budget allocations. Although the D.C. Court of Appeals upheld Trump’s authority over USAGM, Lamberth maintained his injunction to keep VOA operational.
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| Kari Lake |
Wuco, a former conservative talk show host and Project 2025 contributor who promoted the Obama birther conspiracy, and Soltani, former head of VOA’s Persian-language division, are also implicated. Project 2025 criticizes USAGM’s editorial independence as enabling anti-U.S. bias.
In an August 25 interview with Real America’s Voice, Lake denied a complete VOA shutdown, claiming the agency was meeting minimum foreign-language broadcast requirements while “rightsizing” through staff and budget cuts. The legal battle underscores tensions over VOA’s operations and the administration’s influence over federally funded media.