January 11th – U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo will give a speech at the headquarters of the U.S. government-funded news organization Voice of America.
In response, several VOA employees launched a report and complaint, saying that Pompeo’s speech not only endangers public health and safety in the face of the epidemic, but also seriously wastes government resources, which is purely a political propaganda.
The protest letter, written by five employees of the Public Interest Law Firm Government Accountability Project on behalf of the Voice, stated that the speech in the Pompeo program “jeopardizes public health and safety, violates laws, rules and regulations, and seriously wastes government resources,” according to the Washington Post.
In addition to Michael Parker, the head of the Voice, the letter was also sent to Larry, the director of the Voice and the congressional committee that oversees the agency.
Pompeo plans to address the staff at the VOA headquarters in Washington on the afternoon of the 11th. According to an earlier statement, Pompeo is expected to mention “the continuing importance of the work of the government under the new threat to American values and interests”, followed by a question-and-answer session with Riley.
U.S. media said that Pompeo will address the VOA staff in the auditorium with a capacity of about 400 people, but agency officials said that due to social distancing requirements, his speech would be limited to about 50 people, and the rest could watch it remotely.
David Seder, senior lawyer for the Government Accountability Project, said that Riley intended to broadcast Pompeo’s speech around the world through 47 foreign language channels and video streams of the Voice, in violation of the statutory rule prohibiting political influence on editorial judgment.
Whether to broadcast the speech of the Secretary of State on the Voice of America should be decided by the company’s reporters.
In the letter, Said also pointed out that outgoing Pompeo tried to use the Voice of America for political propaganda, which was “a purely propaganda stunt that has nothing to do with the public interest and constitutes a serious abuse of government resources”.
At present, Voice spokesman Shelchuck has only said that the agency “strictly abides strictly with all the CDC’s coronavirus guidelines, without further comment.”
