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Key US Lawmaker Calls for New Government Media Chief to Testify

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - A key U.S. lawmaker on Tuesday called on Michael Pack, the
   new chief executive officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media which
   oversees Voice of America and other government-funded international
   media entities, to testify next month about why he fired several top
   officials and installed Trump administration political appointees to
   the agency's leadership structure.
   New York Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, chairman of the House
   Foreign Affairs Committee, set a hearing for July 8. Pack and USAGM
   have not indicated whether the new CEO plans to testify.
   In a separate action, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced
   that Senator Bob Menendez, the most senior Democrat on the committee,
   has asked the State Department's acting inspector general to
   investigate whether the firings violated a federal regulation
   protecting the news organization's' independence.
   Last week, Pack fired the leaders of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
   Radio Free Asia, the Middle East Broadcasting Network, and the Open
   Technology Fund, without explanation. Days earlier, VOA director Amanda
   Bennett, and her deputy, Sandy Sugawara, resigned, saying Pack had the
   right to choose his own VOA leadership.

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