Judge says Kari Lake unlawfully ran USAGM, voids Voice of America layoffs | CNN Business

In a victory for Voice of America staffers, a federal judge ruled Saturday that Kari Lake unlawfully ran the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for several months last year. The mass layoffs and other actions undertaken during that time “are void,” US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote. The ruling was a remarkable rebuke of Lake, a failed Arizona gubernatorial and US Senate candidate and fierce loyalist of President Trump. Lake immediately called the judge an “activist” and said the agency would appeal. The plaintiffs who sued Lake to save their jobs and defend the agency amid Trump’s attempts to dismantle it said they felt “vindicated and deeply grateful.” “The judge’s ruling that Kari Lake’s actions shall have no force or effect is a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution that we love,” the plaintiffs, Patsy Widakuswara, Kate Neeper, and Jessica Jerreat, said. “Even as we work through what this ruling means for colleagues harmed by her actions, it brings renewed hope and momentum to the next phase of our fight: restoring VOA‘s global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaga