Trump Appointee At VOA Parent Paid Law Firm Millions To Investigate His Own Staff

[riversedge]

Source: npr




March 4, 2021 7:12 PM ET


Former U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack contracted with a private law firm to investigate his own staff, a task usually done by government specialists.
U.S. Agency for Global Media

Last summer, an appointee of former President Donald Trump was irate because he could not simply fire top executives who had warned him that some of his plans might be illegal.

Michael Pack, who was CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media that oversees Voice of America, in August suspended those top executives. He also immediately ordered up an investigation to determine what wrongdoing the executives might have committed.

Instead of turning to inspectors general or civil servants to investigate, Pack personally signed a no-bid contract to hire a high-profile law firm with strong Republican ties.

The bill — footed by taxpayers — exceeded a million dollars in just the first few months of the contract. .....................

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2021/03/04/973765185/trump-appointee-at-voa-parent-paid-law-firm-millions-to-investigate-his-own-staf

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Link to tweet

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[NancyBlueINOklahoma]

1. Thank goodness he is gone

Now DeJoy needs to go!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. among the things the US taxpayer was billed for: a review of the inspector general's report on ...

NeanderthalHat Retweeted

among the things the US taxpayer was billed for: a review of the inspector general’s report on the email controversy surrounding fmr Secretary of State
@HillaryClinton
- who had been out of office for 7.5+ yrs by that point

Link to tweet

[Ford_Prefect]

3. It's what Republicans do: They use our taxes against us and then whine about unity and fairness.

Breaking the law is just part of the service...

[PatSeg]

4. As well as whining about Democrats spending

And what on earth did these investigators do that cost millions of dollars?

[Ford_Prefect]

6. Most likely they donated a chunk of it to Trump campaign, That's another thing

they do: pay out tax money in no-bid contracts to launder it into GOP donations.

[PatSeg]

8. You know,

If it involves republicans and money, there is sure to be something dishonest or illegal about it.

The breakdown appears to be: McGuireWoods charged more than $320 per hour for 3,200 billable hours from August through October alone. That involved five partners, six associates, two lawyers of counsel, two staff attorneys, seven paralegals, three case assistants, 14 timekeepers, and 11 outsourced attorneys.

That is insane AND the primary thing they seemed to be looking for was anti-Trump bias among the agency's employees. That is so disturbing, as it is the sort of thing that is done in a dictatorship, something straight out of Putin's playbook.

[Ford_Prefect]

9. I've seen it done in corporate life too, although not to this level of excess.

I find it fascinating that the level of billing seems to include what must be every member of the firm and 11 outsourced attorneys, along with the timekeepers. If the people working at VOA were under federal employment rules, a common condition for contractors in certain areas of government work, I suspect their rights were violated by this investigation.

Michael Pack gonna have some 'splainin' to do with a few federal judges, IMO.

[PatSeg]

11. I think you're right about their rights being violated

I smell some lawsuits on the horizon.

How stupid are these people, that they pull this kind of crap in broad daylight? I think they are so used to skirting and/or breaking the law in the private sector, that they think they can get away with it in government as well. Oops, their hubris is only exceeded by their stupidity.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

5. Is there some way taxpayers can recover the money from Pack?

It seems he should be held personally responsible for the expenses.

[riversedge]

7. I wondered the same. I have no idea.

[KS Toronado]

10. We should at least try

When I was in the service, a private emptied a fire extinguisher on July 4th for fun, he got an article 15
and was made to pay to have it refilled. If we can make the poorest government employee pay for a
mistake, surely we could go after the big fish.

[bronxiteforever]

12. Kick

[Hugh_Lebowski]

13. Mind-numbingly corrupt. I give 100-1 odds that the 'plans' that these executives were saying were

illegal ... were to use the VOA to spread partisan, pro-Donald Trump propaganda across the world.

In particular, to our Soldiers stationed overseas, who, if my understanding is correct ... tend to hear and/or listen to ... a lot of VOA content.