Conservative filmmaker Michael Pack had removed the board of the Open Technology Fund, which promotes digital free speech.
, U.S. Appeals Court judges David S. Tatel, Thomas B. Griffith and Patricia A. Millett ruled that it appeared Pack did not have statutory authority to appoint or control the fund’s board members or operations.In staying Pack’s changes pending a “highly expedited” appeal, the judges said existing board members who filed suit showed that “the government’s actions have jeopardized OTF’s relationships with its partner organizations, leading its partner organizations to fear for their safety.
The court said the fund also would face “an increasing risk that its decision-making will be taken over by the government,” undermining its reputation and effectiveness. The Justice Department declined to comment. Spokesmen for the U.S. Agency for Global Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.In lobbying for Pack’s confirmation, Trump and the White House portrayed Voice of America as an out-of-control news organization that has distributed “” favorable to regimes in China and Iran — a claim vigorously disputed by VOA.
The group has funded programs in 60 countries with more than 2 billion people to allow secure and uncensored access to U.S. information sources and the broader Internet — through tools such as the encrypted communications app Signal and the anonymous Web-accessing network Tor — despite authoritarian government controls. It has also worked to protect journalists, sources and consumers from digital attack and aided researchers and technology developers.
The plaintiffs are board members Pack moved to replace June 17: former ambassadors Ryan C. Crocker and Karen Kornbluh, public relations executive Michael W. Kempner and Democratic technology policy adviser Ben Scott.
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