The Voice of America (VOA) workers, reporters, unions and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, contending that shuttering the U.S.-funded news agencies violated several laws and asked the court to reinstate VOA.

The lawsuit, which was filed late Friday in the Southern District of New York, was brought by a handful of unions, RSF and six VOA reporters against U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), VOA’s parent company, acting director Victor Morales and special adviser Kari Lake. VOA’s White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara is the main plaintiff in the case.

The plaintiffs said the administration’s effort to terminate the news agency violated the First Amendment rights of VOA’s employees, and they asked the court to restore USAGM-grantee news outlets and that funds for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle Eastern Broadcast Network (MBN) should resume.

“In many parts of the world, a crucial source of objective news is gone, and only........

© The Hill