Rep. Scott Perry: VOA Misallocates Funds and Suppresses Negative Stories About Iran
Voice of America – VOA misallocates funds, said Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.) who accused VOA and U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) management of suppressing stories about the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses.
USAGM Watch Commentary
A report by Adam Kredo for the Washington Free Beacon says that “Voice of America (VOA), the taxpayer-funded government media network, is obstructing a congressional investigation into ‘waste, fraud, and abuse,’ including partisan advocacy in favor of President Joe Biden and misuse of a visa program to ‘onboard foreign nationals’,” according to Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.), a House Foreign Affairs Committee member.
Rep. Perry accused the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA and other government media outlets, of obstructing several congressional investigations into its “misallocation of taxpayer funds and slanted coverage, including suppressing stories about the Iranian regime’s mass human rights abuses.” Adam Kredo, senior writer reporting on national security and foreign policy matters for the Washington Free Beacon, also wrote that “a government watchdog has also cited USAGM for failing to properly vet 40 percent of its workforce, which includes those with security clearances and many foreign nationals, including Iranians.”
In March, Perry called on VOA and USAGM to turn over multiple documents, but the Washington Free Beacon writer reported that the agency has failed to provide them, “fueling accusations it is trying to hide this information.”
According to Adam Kredo’s report, “Perry is pressing the Foreign Affairs Committee’s chairman and ranking member to haul USAGM’s leaders before Congress.”
Perry wrote this week to his colleagues, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. “Instead of using the hearing opportunity to meaningfully address the egregious security lapses at the Agency, this Committee effectively allowed Taxpayer resources to be expended on a glorified group therapy session for ineffective and/or corrupt government personnel.”
READ MORE: VOA Misallocates Funds and Suppresses Negative Stories About Iran. This Lawmaker Wants To Investigate. By Adam Kredo, The Washington Free Beacon, May 12, 2022.
