'Treasonous': Trump investigates public media reporters for criticizing his administration

Several journalists employed by an outlet funded by the U.S. government have found themselves in President Donald Trump's crosshairs, according to a new report.

In a Friday article, the New York Times reported that one longtime journalist at Voice of America (VOA) — which is funded by Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (AGM) — had been put on an extended "excused absence" pending a human resources investigation following a tweet flagged by Trump advisor Richard Grenell. VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman said the investigation was meant to determine whether his "social media activity has undermined VOA's audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operations."

In the tweet, Herman quoted a nonprofit leader who criticized Trump's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development as making Americans "less safe at home and abroad." Grenell called Herman's tweet "treasonous."

“You don’t get to work against the official U.S. government policies while being paid by US taxpayers,” said Grenell, who is officially the Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions. “You should be immediately fired.”

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According to the Times, Herman was then called into a meeting with VOA's human resources department, who forced him to acknowledge he had "improperly engaged in speculation and analysis." In addition to Herman, two other VOA journalists told the paper that they had also received "blowback" for similar comments. Employees are now raising their concerns about the investigations to VOA director Michael Abramowitz. They believe the investigations have a chilling effect on their reporting on the administration, which is meant to be independent of political influence.

Abramowitz is a former Washington Post reporter and editor who accepted the role at VOA roughly a year ago. He reportedly said he is acting as a "caretaker" until he is officially replaced by former Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, who Trump has tapped for the role. Her appointment will ultimately be decided not by the Senate but by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, which consists of seven presidential appointees with a four-member Republican majority.

The AGM's leadership is currently vacant, though Trump has appointed conservative activist L. Brent Bozell to lead the agency that oversees VOA. Bozell is the founder of the Media Research Center, which is a Virginia-based organization whose stated mission is to identify "left-wing bias in news media and popular culture, revealing the left’s agenda to undermine traditional values, restrict individual liberty, and stifle private enterprise."