Federal judge upholds Pentagon's firings of three Stars and Stripes staffers

In a lawsuit hoping to block the Pentagon from terminating three staffers from the publication, Stars and Stripes, a federal judge declined to block it. 

Judge Trevor McFadden issued the decision shortly after the hearing that looked at whether two of the three employees were acting within the scope of their roles when they gave interviews to “CBS Sunday Morning” about the historical editorial independence of the newspaper, according to The Hill. 

The three staffers include publisher Max Lederer, Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte. They alleged in the lawsuit filed last week that the Department of War is retaliating against them for publicly expressing concerns about the paper’s future editorial independence under current Pentagon leadership.

“Plaintiffs’ own pleadings and the CBS News segment suggest that they spoke as part of their official duties and not as private citizens,” the judge wrote. “They are thus unlikely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim and do not demonstrate irreparable harm.”

The three are represented by Taryn Wilgus Null, senior counsel at Democracy Defenders Fund, who said in a statement that they are weighing their legal options. 

“The judge emphasized a plaintiff’s high burden to obtain a preliminary injunction,” Null told The Hill. “While we are disappointed in the decision, we fully expect to prevail after we have an opportunity to take discovery and all the facts are revealed.”