Trump nominee to head US Agency for Global Media is under investigation

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Robert Menendez (D-NJ) says Public Media Lab, a nonprofit organization that is run by Michael Pack, is under investigation by the District of Columbia’s attorney general. Pack is President Trump’s nominee to lead the US Agency for Global Media, the federal media agency with oversight of Voice of America and other news outlets. The attorney general’s office is investigating whether Pack’s use of Public Media Lab funds was “unlawful and whether he improperly used those funds to benefit himself.” The DC attorney general informed the committee of the active investigation May 14, the same day that Pack was scheduled to face a key panel vote on his nomination until it was postponed. Pack has been under scrutiny for tax issues since at least September, when CNBC reported that at least $1.6 million in donations from his nonprofit were sent to his independent production company, Manifold Productions. The DC attorney general’s office has asked the Foreign Relations Committee for documents to aid in its investigation.