Former Stars and Stripes publisher: Pentagon lawsuit will ‘continue on’ after court setback

Former Stars and Stripes Publisher Says Pentagon Lawsuit Continues

Provpnadvice.com – The Former Stars and Stripes publisher, Max Lederer, confirmed Saturday that his full lawsuit against the Department of Defense will proceed despite a federal judge’s Friday denial of a preliminary injunction. Alongside former editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte, Lederer was dismissed from his post last month. The trio’s complaint alleges the Pentagon violated its own personnel rules and their First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the plaintiffs had not yet shown a sufficient likelihood of success on their constitutional claims at this early procedural stage. Lederer acknowledged the setback but characterized it as a narrow, technical ruling rather than a judgment on the merits.

“It’s a really high bar in a preliminary injunction,” Lederer told MS NOW’s Jacob Soboroff Saturday morning. “And [the ruling] doesn’t eliminate our basic suit.”

What the Injunction Denial Does — and Does Not — Decide

The denied motion represented only the first procedural maneuver in what Lederer described as a longer litigation path. He stressed that the court retained jurisdiction over the underlying claims and that the plaintiffs would receive additional opportunities to brief and argue the constitutional questions before the same judge.

“We are going on with that suit,” he stated. “That will continue on, and we’ll have more opportunity to present our case to the judge and argue this very important issue.”

In other words, the Former Stars and Stripes publisher and his co-plaintiffs retain every substantive claim in their complaint. The injunction ruling simply means the case will unfold through discovery, motions, and ultimately trial rather than being resolved on an expedited timeline.

A Wider Campaign to Reshape Military Press Coverage

The terminations did not occur in a vacuum. Since President Trump returned to office, Pentagon leadership has pursued a visible effort to redirect how the Stars and Stripes covers military affairs. Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell announced in January that the department would “refocus” the outlet’s reporting away from what he called “woke distractions that syphon morale.”

In March, the Pentagon circulated an eight-page memorandum imposing new content requirements on the newspaper, stipulating that its output remain “consistent with good order and discipline of the military.” The directive was widely read as a departure from the paper’s longstanding editorial autonomy — a norm that distinguishes the Stars and Stripes from most government-affiliated media, even though its staff are drawn from within the Department of Defense.

The Former Stars and Stripes publisher had already signaled his intention to retire at month’s end before his termination took effect. He told MS NOW that his decision to step down was precipitated by his refusal to carry out a Pentagon directive ordering him to dismiss two staffers.

“I had gotten to a point where I couldn’t support the direction any longer, and as any good employee of any good organization, your option is to do what you’re asked to do or leave,” Lederer said. “And I chose to leave.”

His subsequent firing — rather than a clean retirement — converted a planned departure into a contested termination, and it is that contested termination that now anchors the ongoing litigation.

Parallel Legal Challenges

The Lederer-Slavin-Korte suit is not the only legal front. In June, two members of the Stars and Stripes advisory board filed their own action alleging the Pentagon was attempting to “exert unprecedented control” over the publication. Separately, Jacqueline Smith — the outlet’s ombudsman, a role created specifically to safeguard editorial independence — was removed from her position and filed her own suit that same month. Together, these parallel proceedings suggest a coordinated institutional challenge to what the plaintiffs describe as an unprecedented assertion of managerial authority over journalistic content.

FAQ

What exactly did the court decide on Friday? The court denied a preliminary injunction — an emergency order that would have kept the three plaintiffs in their jobs while the lawsuit played out. It did not dismiss the case or rule on the merits of the First Amendment claims.

Can the Former Stars and Stripes publisher still pursue his claims? Yes. Lederer confirmed the full lawsuit remains active. The plaintiffs will proceed through discovery, briefing, and trial on their constitutional and regulatory claims.

What is the Stars and Stripes? It is the primary English-language newspaper serving U.S. service members worldwide, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its staff are Department of Defense employees, but the outlet has historically operated under a tradition of editorial independence.

Are other lawsuits connected to this dispute? Yes. Two advisory-board members and the former ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, have filed separate suits alleging Pentagon overreach into the newspaper’s editorial operations.