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Journalist Benazir Samad was left without income after Trump appointee Michael
Pack’s “housecleaning” at Voice of America. The situation is described in a recent NPR piece, https://www.npr.org/2021/01/27/959661875/firings-foosball-and-a-conspiracy-theory-trumpism-at-voice-of-america
Please help her by donating or spreading the word about her situation. She needs
money to survive without a job as her visa and employment are sorted out.
Benazir was a lead international multimedia journalist at Voice of America. She was terminated July 31, 2020 after a story ran in Urdu which described a speech by now President Biden to an organization of Muslim Americans during the Presidential campaign.
She says, “There is no question that I was one of the journalists that Michael Pack
terminated not because I violated any journalistic standard or did anything wrong but simply because Mr. Pack was trying to set the example that anyone who did not participate fully in his attempt to turn VOA into a pro-Trump media outlet would be fired.”
Since the firing, she has been unable to work because of her visa status. She has spent $5000 on attorney fees to defend her right to stay in the US. She has been staying with friends and relying on their help to survive.
She is hoping the Biden administration reverses course and restores her position at VOA. She believes returning to Pakistan as a former employee of the US government would be dangerous, considering anti-American sentiment there. From the NPR piece:
"I have dealt with federal agencies for almost 30 years, through both Democrat and Republican leadership," said Mark S. Zaid, an attorney who has been representing several USAGM and VOA senior leaders who filed formal whistleblower complaints against Pack. I have never encountered as many senior political officials to be so petty, vindictive, arrogant, egotistical and mean-
spirited, epitomizing the worst of Trump, as I did since Michael Pack arrived at
USAGM as CEO." Pack has inspired multiple formal investigations and rebukes from federal and District of Columbia judges. They have found that he has acted illegally and even unconstitutionally.
Benazir says, “I believe that I and others in my position were targeted because we are non-U.S. citizens who the Trump Administration wanted out of the country as soon as possible.”
Pack’s “housecleaning” at Voice of America. The situation is described in a recent NPR piece, https://www.npr.org/2021/01/27/959661875/firings-foosball-and-a-conspiracy-theory-trumpism-at-voice-of-america
Please help her by donating or spreading the word about her situation. She needs
money to survive without a job as her visa and employment are sorted out.
Benazir was a lead international multimedia journalist at Voice of America. She was terminated July 31, 2020 after a story ran in Urdu which described a speech by now President Biden to an organization of Muslim Americans during the Presidential campaign.
She says, “There is no question that I was one of the journalists that Michael Pack
terminated not because I violated any journalistic standard or did anything wrong but simply because Mr. Pack was trying to set the example that anyone who did not participate fully in his attempt to turn VOA into a pro-Trump media outlet would be fired.”
Since the firing, she has been unable to work because of her visa status. She has spent $5000 on attorney fees to defend her right to stay in the US. She has been staying with friends and relying on their help to survive.
She is hoping the Biden administration reverses course and restores her position at VOA. She believes returning to Pakistan as a former employee of the US government would be dangerous, considering anti-American sentiment there. From the NPR piece:
"I have dealt with federal agencies for almost 30 years, through both Democrat and Republican leadership," said Mark S. Zaid, an attorney who has been representing several USAGM and VOA senior leaders who filed formal whistleblower complaints against Pack. I have never encountered as many senior political officials to be so petty, vindictive, arrogant, egotistical and mean-
spirited, epitomizing the worst of Trump, as I did since Michael Pack arrived at
USAGM as CEO." Pack has inspired multiple formal investigations and rebukes from federal and District of Columbia judges. They have found that he has acted illegally and even unconstitutionally.
Benazir says, “I believe that I and others in my position were targeted because we are non-U.S. citizens who the Trump Administration wanted out of the country as soon as possible.”
Organizer
BENAZIR SAMAD
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC
