On Wednesday, President Trump issued a bold declaration, demanding the utter annihilation of what he refers to as the “LEFTWING DISASTER” known as Voice of America, which he derides as a “Democrat mouthpiece.”
This statement followed testimony from Kari Lake, a Senior Advisor at the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Lake shed light on her agency’s extensive history of waste, fraud, mismanagement, and national security oversights.
USAGM is responsible for several government-funded media outlets, including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
According to reports from Gateway Pundit, Lake characterized the agency and its operations as little more than a front for laundering money for leftist propaganda and foreign corruption, all while operating with minimal oversight.
During her testimony, Lake unveiled a litany of financial mismanagement within USAGM, citing expenditures such as “$75,000 for a COVID study on how Mac computers can facilitate social distancing, $100,000 of taxpayer funds to sponsor an Afghan cricket team, $400,000 allocated for quid pro quo payments to African VOA affiliates—complete with the phrase ‘quid pro quo’ next to the budget item—$825,000 for a New York music show, and a staggering $6 million contract for consulting services that were never put into practice.”
“This organization is rotten. It’s rotten to the core,” Lake declared emphatically before the committee. “It is indeed a crime scene.”
“This Place is Rotten. It’s Rotten to the Core” – Kari Lake Exposes Waste, Fraud, and Abuse at USAGM in Opening Statement – Reveals Over 20 spies from a Hostile Nation were Busted, Millions in Improper Payments and “Quid Pro Quo”
“No Republican should support this nonsense,” Lake asserted.
In response to the hearing, President Trump took to Truth Social, condemning Voice of America as a “Democrat mouthpiece” and urging Republicans to dismantle and defund the organization:
Trump: Why would a Republican want the Democrat “mouthpiece,” Voice of America (VOA), to continue? It’s a TOTAL, LEFTWING DISASTER — No Republican should vote for its survival. KILL IT!
This is reminiscent of Trump’s previous comments following a House Oversight Committee hearing on NPR and PBS, after which he signed an executive order aimed at defunding these perceived “leftist fraud organizations.”
This story is still developing.