Three Stars and Stripes reporters sued the Trump administration on Thursday over efforts to fire them from the Pentagon-owned newspaper. File Photo by Sgt. Brendan Mackie/U.S. Army National Guard/UPI
Aug. 27 (UPI) — Three journalists at the Pentagon-owned Stars and Stripes sued the Trump administration on Thursday, alleging efforts to fire them for publicly defending the military newspaper’s longstanding editorial independence violate their First Amendment rights.
Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte were notified Aug. 21 that they would be dismissed for insubordination, Slavin and Korte for speaking publicly in support of their newspaper’s journalistic independence and Lederer for refusing to firing at them the direction the Department of Defense.
Their firings were to take effect Friday, five business days after they received the separation notices. But they are asking the court to halt their dismissals.
“The Pentagon is trying to punish journalists for defending the established mission of Stars and Stripes,” Taryn Wilgus Null, senior counsel at Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed the lawsuit, said in a statement.
“We are asking the court to stop these unconstitutional terminations. Service members and their families need reporting that is independent of the officials it covers and is unafraid to criticize them when they deserve it.”
With a history going back to the Civil War, Stars and Stripes has been published continuously since World War II and is known for maintaining editorial independence despite being part of the Department of Defense. However, it has come under mounting pressure from the Trump administration following repeated clashes with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over its coverage.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia states the effort to fire the journalists stems from a July 5 segment on CBS Sunday Morning during which Slavin and Korte said their content would not be dictated by the federal government.
“I’m working for Stars and Stripes … not the Pentagon, not any administration nor for any policymaker,” Korte said, while Slavin explained a “redline” for him would be the Trump administration dictating what they cover.
Then on Aug. 12, the day after Stars and Stripes broke news about the allegedly subpar conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the Pentagon instructed Lederer to fire Slavin and Korte. After he reffused, all three were served notices of separation, charging each with insubordination and other department violations and citing the statements the plaintiffs made to the media.
The lawsuit names Hegseth, the Pentagon, Principal Deputy Assistant to the secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Andrew Brey and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell as defendants.
“Everyone deserves the right to a free and independent press, especially our service members,” Korte said in an online statement after the lawsuit was filed.
“This lawsuit is about safeguarding the mission of Stars and Stripes journalists so they can continue to do their jobs without fear or retaliation.”
The threatened firings came as the second Trump administration has imposed a series of measures to restrict and control reporting on the Department of Defense, several of which have led to litigation.
