Three fired staff members of independent American military news outlet Stars and Stripes are suing the Pentagon, accusing the Trump administration of violating their First Amendment rights.
According to the lawsuit, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, Middle East reporter Lara Korte, and publisher Max D. Lederer Jr. alleged that the Department of Defense (DoD) is attempting to fire them in retaliation for their recent news reports regarding the beleaguered U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.
“This action seeks to prevent the blatant violation of the First Amendment rights of these journalists and challenges the U.S. Department of Defense’s extraordinary censorship efforts in violation of both the First Amendment and DoD regulations and policies,” the suit states.
Pentagon Fired Plaintiffs For "Insubordination"
The plaintiffs’ response comes after the DoD – including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell – charged the three with insubordination and violating DoD regulations.
The “genesis” of the Pentagon’s disdain for Slavin and Korte began after they issued statements to CBS News defending the publication’s editorial independence.
The suit requests the court to stop their unlawful terminations and seeks an immediate restraining order.
“Our goal is to protect the rights of service members and their families to a free and independent press,” the plaintiffs said in a statement. “Stars and Stripes has served them for generations, and that independence is essential to keeping military communities fully and accurately informed.”
Congress' Efforts To Protect Stars and Stripes' Independence
Despite operating under the Pentagon, since its inception during the U.S. Civil War and revival in World War I, Stars and Stripes has remained independent from the DoD.
In 1991, Congress established an ombudsman position to protect the outlet’s independent reporting from potential censorship.
Despite efforts to protect the publication, the Pentagon, under the leadership of Sec. Hegseth has reportedly attempted to delegitimize the outlet’s independence through “modernization” policy efforts.
In Apr. 2026, a coalition of Congressmembers probed Sec. Hegseth after the ombudsman denounced the Pentagon’s attempts to interfere with the outlet’s editorial independence.
