Stars and Stripes staffers sue Hegseth and Pentagon alleging censorship and First Amendment violations after firings

Publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East reporter Lara Korte filed a federal lawsuit in Washington D.C. on Thursday, accusing the Pentagon of "extraordinary censorship efforts" in retaliation for their reporting. Slavin was dismissed on insubordination grounds after a CBS interview in which he cautioned that military censorship would "constitute a red line." Lederer, a 30-year veteran of the paper, was fired shortly after announcing his retirement — and only then learned that the Pentagon had quietly installed an active-duty service member beneath him as deputy publisher without his knowledge.

The trio say they faced retaliation over a story they ran about worsening conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln during its extended Middle East tour.

The lawsuit names Hegseth, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell and deputy public affairs chief Andrew Brey as defendants, seeking a court ruling that the firings were unlawful.

Stars and Stripes is partly Pentagon-funded but its own website states it is "editorially independent" and "governed by the principles of the First Amendment."