Investigations and Harassment

US Agency for Global Media fires Voice of America director

The U.S. Agency for Global Media fired Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz after he refused to accept a position as chief management officer at VOA’s transmitting station in Greenville, North Carolina. In a court filing, Abramowitz said the proposed reassignment and decision to fire him was illegal since the law states he can only be removed from his position as VOA director with the approval of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board. President Donald Trump dismissed all the board’s members during his first week in office, and it has not been active since. As VOA director, Abramowitz repeatedly pushed back against the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle his outlet, which relies on government funding to provide reliable news to audiences in countries that lack press freedoms. In March, he sued the administration for placing all of VOA’s employees on leave in an attempt to shut it down. 

More from Poynter:

• Trump gutted Voice of America. Six staff members are fighting back.
• What the attempted dismantling of Voice of America means for press freedom in the US and the world
• President Trump’s latest press target: Voice of America

FCC launches investigation into Comcast and NBCUniversal

Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr sent Comcast a letter informing the company that he has asked the FCC to investigate its “relationships with its local broadcast TV affiliates.” He alleged that national programmers like Comcast have exerted increasing control over their local stations, and he stated that he has heard “numerous reports” of NBC, which is owned by Comcast, attempting to “extract onerous financial and operational concessions” from its local stations. Comcast said in a statement that it plans to cooperate with the investigation and that it is “proud” of its decades of support for its local stations. The investigation marks the second the FCC has opened into Comcast during President Donald Trump’s second term. In February, the FCC opened an investigation into the company for “promoting invidious forms of (diversity, equity and inclusion).”

Trump sues the Wall Street Journal over its coverage of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein

President Donald Trump sued The Wall Street Journal for defamation one day after the paper reported that Trump had given convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” birthday letter in 2003. In his lawsuit, Trump said that the letter does not exist and demanded $20 billion in damages over two counts of defamation. The Journal, however, has stood by its reporting. Trump’s lawsuit names both of the Journal reporters who worked on the original story, as well as Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who founded the Journal’s parent company, which also owns Fox News.  

More from Poynter:

• Trump sues Murdoch’s Journal and sends a familiar warning to the rest of the press
• An open letter to Rupert Murdoch urging action to protect our free press
• The Trump administration goes on the attack against The Wall Street Journal

Trump sues three Corporation for Public Broadcasting board members

The Trump administration sued three members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting board after they refused to leave their posts at the White House’s direction. President Donald Trump first attempted to fire the board members in April. But the members — two of whom were appointed to their position by former President Joe Biden and one of whom was appointed by Trump during his first term and later reappointed by Biden — refused to leave. Instead, CPB sued Trump, arguing that the president does not have the authority to fire its board members since CPB is an independent nonprofit and not a government agency. Trump’s countersuit marked the latest in a series of attempts to exert more control over the organization, which is responsible for distributing federal funds to NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local public broadcasting stations. In its lawsuit, the administration demanded the court remove the three board members and order them to return any salary they’ve received since April.

Trump bars Harvard from sponsoring international scholars — including journalism fellowship recipients

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard University that her department is revoking the university’s ability to sponsor visas for international students. International journalists accepted into the university’s prestigious Nieman Fellowship program cannot enter the U.S. without a J- visa — one of the two visa types Harvard was barred from sponsoring. 

Federal Trade Commission launches investigation of Media Matters

The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into Media Matters for allegedly colluding with advertisers. As part of its investigation, the FTC requested the outlet’s budgets and certain communications. Media Matters is a liberal nonprofit outlet that produces reporting and studies on conservative misinformation. It is currently locked in dueling lawsuits with billionaire Elon Musk, who sued the outlet for defamation in 2023 after it published a report finding that advertisements on X appeared next to pro-Nazi posts. The FTC demanded that Media Matters turn over documents related to the lawsuit as part of the investigation.

Department of Justice investigates Harvard Law Review

The Department of Justice sent a letter to Harvard University stating that it was investigating alleged discrimination against white men at the Harvard Law Review. The Law Review is a legal journal run by students at Harvard Law School and is independent from the university. The Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services had previously opened an investigation into the journal in April over potential violations of Title VI, which prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin. In letters to the university, the Department of Justice noted that it had a “cooperating witness” at the journal, which The New York Times identified as a Law Review editor who was offered a job to work for White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

Trump attempts to fire three members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board

White House Presidential Personnel Office deputy director Trent Morse emailed three members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s five-person board, informing them that President Donald Trump had terminated their positions. Two of the members were appointed by former President Joe Biden, and one was appointed by Trump during his first term and later reappointed by Biden. The firings were likely an attempt to reshape CPB so that it would stop funding NPR, PBS and other public broadcasting stations. Though its board members are appointed by the president, CPB is an independent nonprofit — a status that means it is not subject to the president’s authority, according to a lawsuit CPB filed shortly after the firings.

Departments of Education and Health and Human Services launch investigation into Harvard Law Review

The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced they are investigating the Harvard Law Review over potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin. The departments’ announcement alleged that they had received reports of race-based discrimination against white men in the article selection process at the Law Review, a legal journal run by students at Harvard Law School.

Attorney General Pam Bondi allows Department of Justice to subpoena journalists to investigate leaks

Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Department of Justice employees that she was reversing a policy implemented during President Joe Biden’s administration that prevented prosecutors from obtaining journalists’ records in leak investigations. The new regulations allow the DOJ to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to compel journalists to give up information during investigations into government leakers. 

Interim US attorney for DC targets medical journals for bias

Ed Martin Jr., a conservative activist who President Donald Trump nominated to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, sent letters to at least three medical journals accusing them of acting as “partisans in various scientific debates.” The letters included several questions about the journals’ alleged bias. Journals that received letters include the New England Journal of Medicine and Chest. 

White House targets former government official behind anonymous New York Times op-ed for leaking

President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to strip former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor of his security clearances and to “review” his activities as a government employee. Taylor had served during Trump’s first administration. During that time, he wrote an anonymous op-ed for The New York Times called “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration” in which he claimed that he and other officials were working to “frustrate parts of (Trump’s) agenda and his worst inclinations.” Trump’s order specifically instructed Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem to investigate whether Taylor had leaked classified information. 

FCC launches investigation into ABC and Disney

Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, informed Disney that it has asked the FCC’s enforcement bureau to investigate the company and its television and radio broadcaster ABC for “promoting invidious forms of (diversity, equity and inclusion).” The investigation follows a similar one the FCC opened into Comcast and NBCUniversal in February over DEI initiatives. 

FBI announces investigation into leak of Dobbs opinion

Federal Bureau of Investigation deputy director Dan Bongino announced on X that he and FBI director Kash Patel are investigating “a number of cases of potential public corruption,” including the leak of a draft opinion in the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. In 2022, Politico published Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s majority draft opinion, which revealed that the court was planning to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate the constitutional right to abortion access. The Supreme Court investigated the leak but was unable to find the person responsible. In his X post, Bongino said he receives weekly briefings on the FBI’s investigation and solicited tips from the public.

Department of Homeland Security officers question and search phone of Palestinian American journalist at the border

Palestinian American journalist Hebh Jamal and her husband were questioned by Department of Homeland Security officials in Frankfurt, Germany, right before they boarded their flight to Newark, New Jersey. Upon landing in the United States, officers who did not identify themselves separated the couple and questioned them again. The officers searched the couple’s phones and asked Jamal questions about the most recent article she had written. They also asked for her contact information and social media accounts. One told her husband, who is a German citizen, to stay away from “political activity” while in the U.S.