Former Voice of America overseer hired two law firms to $4 million no-bid contracts.

Source: Washington Post

Former Voice of America overseer hired two law firms to $4 million no-bid contracts.

By Paul Farhi
1/25/2021, 5:25:24 p.m.

The former head of Voice of America’s parent agency hired two law firms to open-ended, no-bid contracts, including one specifying that top lawyers would earn $1,470 per hour, according to documents and people familiar with the matter. The two agreements have cost taxpayers close to $4 million over a five-month period, far more than was previously known, and possibly in violation of federal rules.

The first details of the arrangement were made public last week in a whistleblower complaint against Michael Pack, who was appointed chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) eight months ago, and whom President Biden forced to resign hours after he took office last week.

Documents detailing the agreements with the law firms were turned over in early January to the State Department’s inspector general, which oversees ­USAGM and is now investigating, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose potential irregularities.

From his Senate confirmation in June until his resignation last week, Pack oversaw USAGM’s portfolio of international news agencies, including VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The networks specialize in broadcasting news in countries where an independent press is suppressed.

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The contracts were part of his effort to reshape USAGM and purge employees he saw as problematic from the news and broadcasting groups under its authority. Pack hired two Washington firms, McGuireWoods and Caplin & Drysdale — apparently in contradiction to federal contracting regulations and guidelines, according to internal documents.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/former-head-of-voice-of-americas-parent-hired-two-law-firms-to-no-bid-contracts-price-tag-4-million/2021/01/25/87a35e7a-5d0c-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html