Trump picks Kari Lake to lead Voice of America

[Coventina]

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Kari Lake to serve as the next director of Voice of America — the publicly funded broadcast network that drew his ire in his first term.

Lake, a former local news anchor and staunch Trump ally, will be appointed by the next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which Trump plans to announce soon, the president-elect said in a Truth Social post Wednesday. The U.S. Agency for Global Media oversees Voice of America.

Trump said in the post that Lake and the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media will work “to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”

Lake has mimicked Trump’s disdain for the media since she has become a MAGA lightning rod. She won his endorsement in both of her unsuccessful bids for an Arizona Senate seat last month and for governor in 2022.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/11/congress/kari-lake-to-voa-00193921

***************************************************************************************

I'm cringing already.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Of course he did

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Kari Lake latest losing candidate set to join Trump's second term team

As Trump chooses Kari Lake to lead the Voice of America, a larger pattern is coming into focus: The president-elect is picking a lot of failed candidates.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevebenen.com/post/3ld4g33nlnc2m

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/kari-lake-latest-losing-candidate-set-join-trumps-second-term-team-rcna183937

Exactly eight years ago this week, there were reports of concerns among Voice of America officials that Donald Trump — in his first go-around as president-elect — might try to politicize the network’s coverage. Several years later, federal investigators determined that Michael Pack, a Trump-appointed official who helped oversee the VOA, did abuse the powers of his office.

Pack, it’s also worth noting, faced complaints from more than 30 whistleblowers during his tenure.

It’s against this backdrop that Trump is president-elect again, and he has someone new in mind for the network. NBC News reported:

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he wants ally Kari Lake to be the next director of the Voice of America, a federal network that’s part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. ... Lake said on X she was “honored” by Trump’s announcement. “Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America’s achievements worldwide,” she said.

As NBC News’ report added, “The VOA’s stated mission is not to promote America’s achievements; rather, its website says it is ‘committed to providing comprehensive coverage of the news and telling audiences the truth.’”.....

As for Trump’s motivations, The New York Times published a related analysis that noted, “It’s a surprising development for a political figure who has long deployed the word ‘loser’ as an insult, and who tried to overturn the 2020 election rather than admit he lost it. But some of these Republicans lost their races in part because of their support for Trump — which means losing can make for winning politics in Washington when loyalty to Trump is the coin of the realm.”

All of which suggests the so-called “Team of Losers” list might yet grow longer.

[moondust]

3. The farce continues.

But since people in many other countries have not been exposed to decades of Fox/MAGA propaganda, VOA may just become the ridiculous new U.S. Pravda and be ignored.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

4. His entire administration is one sick joke

[Kid Berwyn]

5. FBI/Russia stooge Charles McGonigal may soon find relief from the truth.

This is one of the best articles I've read covering the story of the counter-espionage FBI agent who simultaneously also worked for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, among others. Enjoy, DU, for Kari Lake and her ilk will soon order that nothing like it will cross our news and information paths ever again.

In Arrest Of Former Top FBI Agent, Shadow Of Russian Oligarch Deripaska Looms -- Again

by Mike Eckel
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, February 02, 2023

Excerpt...

"The ability of [Deripaska] to penetrate powerful legal circles and now law enforcement circles is quite amazing," said Louise Shelley, an academic who studies corruption and transnational crime at George Mason University and who appeared on a panel discussion with McGonigal in 2020.

Snip...

Many Russia experts, and U.S. officials, have long concluded that oligarchs like Deripaska are able to retain their fortunes so long as they stay on the good side of Putin and the Kremlin. U.S. State Department officials say Deripaska has particularly close personal relations with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Beginning in 2006, the State Department denied Deripaska a visa, citing concerns about ties to organized crime. The difficulties led him to enlist the lobbying influence of former Republican Senate leader Bob Dole and, later, the work of an influential Washington lobbying firm run by a former chairman of the Republican Party.

Deripaska also developed a business relationship with another Republican political operative who had worked for Dole: Paul Manafort. Manafort tried to resolve Deripaska's visa problems in the 2000s, but the two had a falling out after a failed business venture.

Continued...

https://www.rferl.org/amp/russia-us-fbi-deripaska-sanctions/32252583.html

Kari Lake soon will be much more than a news anchor. At Voice of America, she'll control the weather segment, along with whatever else dimdonnie's government deems fit to tell the world.

[usaf-vet]

6. Again pumping bullshit into every military installation around the world. In my mind this is one of the reasons......

..... some active duty and veterans side with extreme right-wing agenda.

It started with Rush Limbaugh and has continued featuring all of the current right-wing talking heads now, including Putin admirer Tucker Carlson.

With Kari Lake as the head, we can't hope for a more balanced agenda. It is likely to bend to the MAGA extreme agenda.

[DronePilot]

7. 2-yr olds require less attention and affirmation

[TahitiSW]

8. Snap Out of It

Last edited Thu Dec 12, 2024, 11:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Think of this -- a taxpayer-funded federal agency (nearly $1 billion in FY 2025 for USAGM) teams up with three
UK authors on a book targeting citizen critics of the federal agency. How many commenting here were aware
of that?

Elections have consequences. So do the serious mis-steps by VOA and some of its key leaders and
journalists over the past decade. VOA demonstrated disregard for members of Congress, and allowed
violations of its own journalistic standards.

USAGM and VOA weaponized themselves against critics, notably citizen journalists, and members of
Congress investigating management and journalistic problems at the agency. This agency needs to
become sharply more accountable and transparent to Congress about how it carries out its work and needs to
stop using the "firewall" (which by the way is NOT actually in law) as a tool to avoid greater accountability.

[FSogol]

9. VOA's budget last year was $267.5 million. The 1 billion is for the entire

U.S. Agency for Global Media of which VOA is only a tiny part.

[TahitiSW]

11. VOA Budget level re USAGM

Yes, VOA's budget is $267 million approximately, but the agency itself has grown steadily to
near the $ 1 billion mark. The agency has an established track record of scandals -- once called
the "sickest Federal agency" and described as "corrup" by members of Congress. See the
report by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) who investigated management and journalistic problems at VOA
for more than two years (https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release/chairman-mccaul-releases-report-on-culture-of-corruption-at-usagm/). That report detailed a pattern of stonewalling by USAGM/VOA, which reflects what many critics
of the agency know -- it's a rogue agency that gives the finger to anyone seeking from it greater accountability
and transparency.

[Cha]

10. Lake is the Gaslit Shit Side of America... Count me

me out. Stupid FUCKS.

[William Gustafson]

12. Not to concerned with this ....

V of A has a board of directors that control what goes on the air.... I am sure they will tell Cari Lake to go pound sand...