According to two fellow journalists at the organization, a Voice of America reporter was re-assigned and the White House partner was taken after she tried to ask Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during an event at VOA headquarters.
Patsy Widakuswara, who has been dealing with the White House for VOA since 2018, called questions to Pompeo after giving a speech on Monday and sitting for a question-and-answer session conducted by Robert Reilly, director of the VOA .
Reilly, a former VOA director and conservative commentator, was appointed last month to lead the broadcast by Michael Pack, the head of the U.S. Global Media Agency, which oversees VOA and other government-funded media. Pack led the turnaround at the agency, marked by firing of senior executives, court battles and dual criticism from Congress and condemnation by press freedom groups.
Widakuswara could be heard trying to ask a question at the end of the live broadcast of Pompeo’s appearance, and she again tried to ask him questions as he left the VOA building in Washington.
In a video posted to her Twitter account, Widakuswara can be heard ask Pompeo what he is doing to restore the US reputation after the Capitol storm last week by a pro-Trump mob and if he regrets saying after the election that there would be a second Trump term.
According to the video, Pompeo did not answer her questions when he walked out.
Widakuswara was removed from her job in the White House later on Monday and had to be the Air Force One radio pool reporter on Tuesday. VOA has ordered her not to travel, two VOA journalists familiar with the matter told NBC News.
VOA’s press office did not respond to a request for comment on Widakuswara’s reshuffle, which was first reported by NPR and the Washington Post. Widakurswara did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pompeo came to Pack’s defense in his speech Monday, thanking his leadership and saying VOA got in the way by being too critical in covering America for foreign audiences.
“Its broadcasts have become less to speak the truth about America, and too often about the humiliation of America,” Pompeo said in his speech without giving examples.
“Voice of America has lost its voice, but it’s on its way back,” he said.
Members of Congress and current and former employees of VOA and other U.S. broadcasters, including Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, say Pack is investigating journalists and trying to turn the stores into a propaganda vehicle for Trump .
A federal judge ruled against Pack in November, effectively banning him from making staff decisions in the media or interfering with editorial staff. A Washington DC judge in the Supreme Court ruled in October that Pack did not have the power to put down the management of a nonprofit, the US-funded Open Technology Fund, which provides anti-censorship software and programs developed used by civil society and journalists oppressive countries.