Media agency chief refuses to answer questions from Congress on report of corruption at VOA (original) (raw)

A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times.Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.

The chief executive in charge of overseeing official U.S. broadcast outlets declined to answer questions about corruption at the Voice of America that House Foreign Affairs Committee investigators say they uncovered during a probe of the agency.

Amanda Bennett, chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), rebuffed multiple questions from Republicans at a charged House subcommittee hearing that focused in part on the case of Setarah Sieg, a Persian language manager at the Voice of America. Ms. Sieg was fired near the end of the Trump administration and rehired weeks after President Biden took office.

An investigative report by the full committee made public last month reported that Ms. Sieg had falsified her resume and misused taxpayer funds while managers at federal broadcaster agencies sought to cover up the activities.

Full Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, said Tuesday that “serious problems” remain at USAGM after the committee report exposed what it stated was “corruption” among USAGM and VOA managers. Insiders within the Voice of America, which is overseen by USAGM, initially contacted committee Democrats but were ignored, Mr. McCaul said.

“The whistleblowers alleged wide-ranging abuses, including that Ms. Sieg frequently berated staff, used taxpayer funds for personal travel, awarded government contracts to friends, falsified her education credentials, and engaged in a pattern of favoritism,” Mr. McCaul said during the hearing of panel’s subcommittee on oversight and accountability.

“Additionally, this committee worked closely with the French Embassy, which informed the committee back in 2021 that Ms. Sieg did not attend the prestigious Sorbonne – as she had claimed – and she does not hold a Ph.D. or an equivalent.”

Ms. Sieg, through her lawyer, has denied the allegations.

Mr. McCaul said the problems were uncovered three years ago, but “USAGM still refuses to accept the facts.”

Under questioning from subcommittee Republicans, Ms. Bennett repeatedly declined to explain why Ms. Sieg was rehired and denied allegations that an estimated $1 million in taxpayer money was misused.

“That whole issue has been thoroughly overseen … over a period of three years,” Ms. Bennett said when asked why Ms. Sieg was rehired. “It’s really inappropriate to talk about personnel issues in an open forum like this.”

“Ma’am, it’s taxpayer money. It’s very appropriate for us to talk about it, “ said Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee Republican. “The Privacy Act does not apply to Congress and these were taxpayer monies.”

Mr. Burchett said Ms. Sieg mishandled $1 million of VOA money and asked Ms. Bennett if that was not viewed as a firing offense.

Ms. Bennett replied that USAGM’s own investigation found the charges to be “without merit.”

A Jan. 5, 2021, letter to Ms. Sieg announcing her removal from VOA stated that she had “misused and wasted $950,000 in agency funds.”

The USAGM chief also refused to say whether Ms. Sieg falsely claimed to have graduated from France’s prestigious Sorbonne University with a doctorate.

“Then let the record show that she did not have it and that … she lied about it,” said acting subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, California Republican.

Ms. Bennett also defended VOA from critics who uncovered an official email sent to broadcasters directing them not to identify Hamas as a terrorist organization after the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

“That was a personal opinion by someone that circulated around. It was not by any means the policy,” Ms. Bennett said, adding that the memo was meant to signal broadcasters “to be careful” in using the word “terrorist.”

But Mr. Issa, the acting subcommittee chair, introduced into the record an email from Carol Guensburg, VOA’s associate editor for news standards and best practices, that contradicted Ms. Bennett. The email stated that all on-air and online coverage should “avoid calling Hamas and its members terrorists, except in quotes.”

Mr. Issa said when his office exposed the policy, VOA inaccurately claimed it had clarified the matter.

“We had an opportunity to faithfully and truthfully report the brutal attacks by terrorists, and we squandered that opportunity to reach millions of people who may have been receptive to that message,” he said. “USAGM’s leadership has allowed the agency, particularly VOA, to drift into becoming another mainstream media news organization, indistinguishable from NPR and others.”

Ms. Bennett said the directive was later modified.

Rep. Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Republican said problems at government broadcasters were much broader, including what he said were decades-long security problems, partisan bias, improper hiring practices and abuse of visas.

“So, you’ll forgive us if we remain skeptical of USAGM’s competence and trustworthiness,” he said.

The full committee report on USAGM said the agency sought to cover the mishandling of the Sieg case as an example of “corruption at USAGM” and efforts by the agency to sidestep congressional oversight.

Mr. McCaul said when the report was released earlier this month that Ms. Sieg should be removed from her VOA post immediately. Ms. Bennett said in response to the committee report that the agency rejects charges that its internal probe of Ms. Sieg was politicized, corrupt, or mismanaged.

The USAGM chief testified along with newly installed VOA Director Michael Abramowitz and Steve Capus, president of U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The broadcasters praised the work of the radio outlets in countering disinformation and noted that several of their officials had been imprisoned for their work.

“What the Sieg investigation has shown is that these journalists’ courage is undermined by internal dysfunction at the agency,” Mr. McCaul said.

Subcommittee Democrats during the hearing praised the work of the broadcasters and highlighted Republican efforts to cut the agency’s budget.

But Mr. Issa defended his panel’s probe, telling The Washington Times that “the AGM and VOA entered this hearing needing to demonstrate a commitment to their statutory mission and advancing America’s national interest without partisan favor. Both failed and this Congress can’t turn away from our obligation to reset these important agencies.”