Kari Lake defends VOA cuts in court after warnings from Capitol Hill

Kari Lake, the Republican firebrand installed by President Donald Trump to reduce the Voice of America and its parent agency to what he called a “minimum presence,” sought Wednesday to justify her hardball approach to a federal judge who has alleged that she is overstepping her statutory authority.

Her legal challenges have expanded beyond the courtroom, however, with the Government Accountability Office launching an investigation into potential executive overreach at the U.S. Agency for Global Media after congressional staffers from both parties warned that Lake was breaking the law by improperly using appropriated funds.