Senate panel advances Trump pick to head VOA, other outlets

A bitterly divided Senate panel voted along party lines Thursday to vance President Donald Trump’s choice to he Voice of America and or U.S. government-funded international brocasters that have been subject of harsh criticism from White House.

After rejecting eight Democratic requests to postpone move, Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent Michael Pack’s mination to full Senate on a 12-10 vote. Pack is Trump’s choice to run U.S. ncy for Global Media, which oversees VOA and its sister outlets like Rio Free Europe/Rio Liberty, Rio Free Asia and Cuba-oriented Rio and Television Marti.

Democrats oppose mination of Pack, a former associate of Trump political viser Steve Bann, in part because of questions about his past business dealings. Recent criticism of VOA from Trump and White House has intensified ir concerns about his mination.

Trump has pushed for Pack’s confirmation while launching unprecedented attacks on Voice of America, venerable brocaster created during World War II to air independent news and promote American values to world, for its cover of China’s response to coronavirus pandemic.

Democrats fear that Pack, a conservative filmmaker and former educator, could turn organization into a Trump propaganda machine funded with more than $200 million a year in taxpayer money. Trump has mused about his desire to control a media outlet.

Pack has dismissed concerns he would allow that to happen, but recent furor has reignited those concerns. top Democrat on committee. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, and or Democrats said vote should be delayed because Pack has t yet answered questions about discrepancies in tax returns related to a n-profit organization he runs.

Yet, uproar over Voice of America and its recent cover of China’s handling of pandemic overshowed possible legal issues. It has become a touchstone in Trump ministration’s efforts to criticize Chinese authorities for outbreak and deflect criticism of U.S. response as 2020 presidential campaign heats up.

Trump and his allies have long viewed VOA with suspicion, regarding it as an element of a “deep state” trying to thwart ir policies. hostility burst open on April 9 when Trump communications viser Dan Scavi posted a VOA story about China to his official Twitter account with comment “American taxpayers—paying for China’s very own propaganda, via U.S. Government funded Voice of America! DISGRACE!!”

story that VOA posted — about lifting of lockdown in Chinese city of Wuhan, where new coronavirus first emerged — was actually an Associated Press report, but following day, an official White House publication accused VOA of using taxpayer money “to speak for authoritarian regimes.” Trump weighed in several days later, calling VOA’s cover “disgusting” and demanding that Senate confirm Pack.

A planned vote on Pack’s mination was delayed earlier this month after Washington, D.C., attorney general informed Menendez and committee chairman Jim Risch, R-Texas, that it h an open civil investigation into tax return discrepancies.