Government Executive: Trump’s Global Media CEP Abused Authority and Wasted Funds, Review Find

This article features Government Accountability Project’s Counsel, David Seide, and was originally published here.

The controversial CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media during the end of the Trump administration abused his authority by making retaliatory personnel actions, and wasting funds, among other adverse actions, a recently released independent investigation found, substantiating whistleblower allegations.

The review, requested by the Office of Special Counsel, centered on Michael Pack’s tenure leading the media agency from June 2020 to January 2021 during which whistleblowers sounded the alarm about issues at the agency. OSC determined there was a “substantial likelihood of wrongdoing,” and an external review team compiled the final report that included their findings as well as those from the State Department inspector general office and Government Accountability Office.

Some of the specific findings include:

• Pack abused his authority by suspending the security clearances of seven agency officials who became whistleblowers and putting them on administrative leave without a valid reason. After this he hired a private law firm, McGuireWoods, “to provide post-hoc justifications for the suspensions,” Special Counsel Henry Kerner wrote in a May 10 letter to President Biden outlining the findings;
• Separate from the use of the law firm, the retention of the firm was a gross...

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