Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed newly dubbed all-star panelist Roger Simon to the studio to discuss the dissolution of Voice of America and his position at Radio Free Europe.
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The director of U.S.-funded Voice of America and her deputy resigned Monday following recent clashes with the Trump administration that have sparked fears for its independence.
Amanda Bennett and Deputy Director Sandy Sugawara announced they were leaving the organization as Trump ally and conservative filmmaker Michael Pack takes over leadership of the agency that oversees VOA.
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Retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) is taking yet another dig at President Donald Trump while he still holds a public platform, this time by trying to undermine his choice to lead Voice of America and attacking his Yemen policy. The Washington Free Beacon reported the story Friday. Corker, the outgoing Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, this week supported a bill to force the United States to withdraw from Yemen. He also slipped through a quiet committee vote to limit the power of Michael Pack, the incoming new head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, (USAGM), which oversees the Voice of America. Corker has lobbed plenty of criticism at Trump over the past two-years plus. This summer, he had bananas on the brain as he twice likened Trump’s White House to a banana republic in reaction to the president’s removal of former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance. Following the 2018 midterm elections in November, in which Trump ally Marsha Blackburn won his seat, the Never-Trumper cracked open the door to challenging the president in the 2020 Republican primary. When asked by reporters if he plans to run for president in 2020, Corker said, “I have not ruled it…
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Russia is considering designating CNN, Voice of America and Radio Liberty as foreign agents, now that the U.S. has forced state-run RT to register as a foreign agent. Russian officials said Friday that they’re thinking of making private and government-run American media entities register as foreign agents, which is exactly what Russia warned it would do…
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