Kari Lake, a well-known conservative figure and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate, has been appointed as Senior Adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) under the Trump administration.

The agency oversees Voice of America and other government-funded international broadcasters.

Lake was sworn into her new position earlier this month and quickly set to work identifying wasteful spending and making operational changes.

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According to an internal email obtained by The Gateway Pundit, she emphasized the importance of restoring efficiency and honesty in reporting on critical national events.

On Saturday, Lake announced significant cost-cutting measures, including reductions in unnecessary expenditures and the elimination of certain positions within the agency.

She also uncovered what she described as suspicious financial activities and questionable contracts signed under the previous administration.

Read this list.
It’s just a fraction of what I’ve found at US Agency for Global Media. There’s a reason it’s referred to as “pound-for-pound the most corrupt agency in Washington DC.” Because it is!

Through an Executive Order President @realDonaldTrump ordered the agency and… pic.twitter.com/zsXx48qCU8

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 16, 2025

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In a video statement released online, Lake detailed the wasteful spending she discovered at USAGM.

“Hi, America. I’m here in Washington, D.C., as Senior Adviser at United States Agency for Global Media. I’m working on behalf of you and President Trump and his administration, and I have been on the job for a couple of weeks now, and I’m horrified by some of the things I’m learning about this agency,” she said.

Lake pointed specifically to a new lease agreement for office space that she claims will cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.

“I’m sitting here on the 13th floor of a shiny, brand new, beautiful skyscraper building that is costing you, the taxpayer, a fortune. The Biden administration folks who were running this agency before, right before they left office, signed a brand new lease for this building, a 15-year lease that’s going to cost the taxpayer nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Here’s the kicker. They already have a building that they’re located in that is paid off, that they could have renovated or updated, but they chose instead to get us into a lease that’s costing the taxpayer a fortune,” Lake stated.

She also highlighted extravagant spending within the new office space, including multiple conference rooms, decorative waterfalls, Italian marble finishes, and leather furnishings, all funded by taxpayer dollars.

Additionally, she raised concerns about last-minute alterations to grant contracts made before the transition, which she claims were intended to obscure financial details from the incoming administration.

“It was an obvious, obvious sign that they wanted to keep us from finding out anything that we could possibly go in and change and make better for the American taxpayer,” she said.

Lake vowed to take corrective action by reviewing contracts, canceling wasteful agreements, and working to reduce the misuse of taxpayer funds.

And a well-connected real estate broker got nearly $10 million on the deal…..

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 16, 2025

It gets worse: the building isn’t even equipped with radio & TV broadcasting capabilities or studios—which would cost $10s of millions more to build.

I have ordered the US Agency for Global Media to terminate the lease immediately.

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 16, 2025

As part of the restructuring, more than 1,000 employees at Voice of America and the Office for Cuba Broadcasting, which operates Radio and Television Martí, were reportedly locked out of their offices.

NPR reported that the mass suspensions followed a directive from President Trump, instructing USAGM to eliminate all non-essential activities.

According to the report, the agency has also terminated funding for several international broadcasting networks, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

The termination notices for these contracts bore Lake’s signature, though questions have been raised about whether she has the statutory authority to carry out such terminations.

Lake’s actions signal a major shift in leadership at USAGM, reflecting the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reform government spending and eliminate inefficiencies within taxpayer-funded media organizations.

The restructuring efforts are expected to continue as Lake and her team assess further ways to streamline the agency’s operations.

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