3 Stars and Stripes staffers sue Pentagon over firings at military news outlet

Three Stars and Stripes staffers sued the Pentagon in federal court Thursday, looking to prevent last week’s firings by the Department of Defense (DOD) at the military-focused newspaper.

Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging the DOD’s firings of them last Friday are in violation of the department’s own personnel rules and the First Amendment.

“In direct contravention of those First Amendment principles, Defendants are attempting to fire Plaintiffs for speaking up as private citizens in support of the press’s freedom to cover military operations, its need to reach all servicepersons, and in retaliation for their publication of a news report on deteriorating conditions aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln during its extended tour of duty in the Mid-East,” lawyers for Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers for Good Government, Government Accountability Project and the Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic — the organizations that filed the lawsuit on behalf of Lederer, Slavin and Korte — wrote in the 45-page complaint.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

Andrew Brey, who is a Pentagon official in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office, ordered Lederer to present separation notices to Korte and Slavin on Aug. 12, charging the duo with insubordination for remarks they made during an interview on “CBS Sunday Morning,” according to court documents.

Five days later, Lederer contacted Brey for clarification. Brey told Lederer to “deliver the notices as instructed.” The publisher did not, instead announcing his retirement .

Then, on Aug. 21, all three staffers were fired by the Pentagon in dismissals that are set to take effect in five business days from receiving the memo.

Traditionally, Stars and Stripes has enjoyed editorial independence from the DOD even though its staff are employees of the department. The outlet is partially funded by the Pentagon.

The Pentagon has worked to reshape the editorial coverage of the newspaper, saying it is looking to get rid of “woke distractions” in coverage and refocus it on “warfighting.”

“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote in January.

The department in April removed Jacqueline Smith, the outlet’s ombudsman, whose role was to monitor the newspaper’s editorial independence and to report concerns to Congress. Smith sued the Pentagon in June over her firing.

The same month, two advisory board members for the Stars and Stripes sued the department , alleging the Pentagon is attempting to censor the newspaper’s content.

The Pentagon put in place Navy Capt. William Urban, an active duty service member, as the new deputy publisher of the newspaper earlier this month, an appointment that triggered questions from Democratic lawmakers.

The same Friday that Lederer, Slavin and Korte were fired, the Pentagon public affairs office released new guidance for the news outlet, stating the paper will maintain “editorial operations independent of the military chain of command, military public affairs activities, or other external influences, free from censorship or propaganda,” but that the newspaper has to “safeguard information by preventing the disclosure of classified information and controlled unclassified information and by avoiding the publication of material that would adversely affect national security or clearly endanger U.S. personnel.”

“Stripes will coordinate all of its congressional briefings, reports and non-newsgathering engagements with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Legislative Affairs (OASW(LA)),” the Pentagon press office wrote in the 17-page document. “Such coordination must occur prior to the engagement and within OASW(LA)-established notification and review timelines.”