According to a report by CNN on August 28, three employees of the American military newspaper Star Tribune filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon and several senior officials on August 27. The defendants include U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Gelseth, Chief Spokesperson Sean Pennelly, and Andrew Breen, the deputy assistant for defense affairs responsible for public affairs. The plaintiffs are the newspaper's editor-in-chief Eric Slavin, publisher Max Lederer, and Middle Eastern journalist Lara Kolt. They claim that they were illegally dismissed due to their personal statements protected by the First Amendment.
It is reported that although The Star and Stripes received some funding from the Pentagon, it has maintained editorial independence for decades. Its operations are similar to those of commercial newspapers, and it independently reports military news. However, in January this year, the Pentagon announced a “modernization” reform of this media, and on the same day, it began to repeal the laws that protect the newspaper’s editorial independence. This lawsuit also requests the court to declare this action illegal.
The escalation of the situation began on July 5th, when Slaven and Cort spoke in an 8-minute episode on “CBS Sunday Morning” about changes to the independence of The Star-Spangled Banner newspaper. The lawsuit states that although the Pentagon did not take immediate action at that time, it expressed its dissatisfaction regarding this issue.
Subsequently, on August 12th, The Star and Stripes reported that the long-term deployment of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Middle East had led to deteriorating living conditions for the sailors on board. The report described the difficulties faced by the sailors during the deployment, including poor living conditions, lack of supplies, excessive workload, and low morale.
The next day, the Pentagon instructed Lederer to send dismissal notices to Slaven and Corte, on the grounds that their previous remarks on CBS constituted “disobedience of orders”.
Lederle did not carry out the decision to dismiss him. A week later, he announced his retirement on September 30th, and in a memo to employees, he stated, “It is clear that my philosophy of leadership, as well as my understanding of the value and mission of The Star-Spangled Banner, are fundamentally different from the direction that the Department of Defense leadership wants for this organization.” However, three days after his scheduled retirement date, Lederle was dismissed, and Slaven and Corte were also terminated.
Three plaintiffs stated in their lawsuit that their resignations violated Department of Defense regulations, claiming that “they did not commit any misconduct, and if there was any, the related notices and proposed dismissals did not follow proper procedures.” They accused the Department of Defense of taking revenge against them for reporting on the living conditions of the USS Lincoln, and punished them simply for “disobeying orders.”
This lawsuit is the third filing between The Star and the Department of Defense this year. In June, the media’s commissioner of investigations, Jacqueline Smith, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense, claiming that her forced resignation violated the First Amendment. In the same month, two members of the newspaper’s advisory board also sued the Pentagon for “modernization” reforms, alleging illegal surveillance.
It is worth noting that in November 2025, as China's first electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier, the "Fujian Ship", was set to be commissioned, The Star and Banner reported a commentary titled "China’s Dramatic Aircraft Carrier Does Not Pose a Threat to U.S. National Security." The article acknowledged China's technological advancement in aircraft carriers, but also stated that "the basic military balance in the Asia-Pacific region remains stable, and continues to tilt significantly towards the United States."
