Three journalists from the nation’s independent military newspaper are suing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials to prevent their firings, which they allege came in retaliation for negative news coverage and speaking out about the importance of press freedom.

Former Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, former publisher Max Lederer Jr. and former reporter Lara Korte allege in the 45-page complaint that officials began retaliating against them after they started speaking out about the importance of the newspaper’s editorial independence last month. The lawsuit specifically points to a CBS Sunday Morning segment that aired in early July, titled “The Battle over Stars and Stripes,” in which Slavin and Korte criticized department officials’ crackdown on the 165-year-old paper’s direction.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in D.C. federal district court, also argues that the retaliation against the journalists ramped up after the newspaper published a report earlier this month focused on the deteriorating mental health of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. That story was not written by anyone involved in the current lawsuit.

The lawsuit marks a dramatic escalation in the ongoing battle between the newsroom and the Pentagon. Federal officials have made Stars and Stripes a key focus of the administration’s culture wars and its attempted reform of the Defense Department. They announced earlier this year that they would take over the newspaper, characterizing its coverage as “woke distractions that syphon morale.” The paper’s ombudsman was fired a few months later after she told The Washington Post that the Pentagon’s plan to expand oversight of the newspaper “threatens Stars and Stripes’ continued editorial independence.” That firing is the subject of separate, ongoing litigation.

About half of Stars and Stripes’ budget comes from the Defense Department, while the other half comes from traditional revenue streams, including subscriptions, according to the complaint. Its staff includes both civilians and active-duty service members.

Despite the paper’s ties to the Defense Department, a federal regulation passed in the early 1990s formally mandated its editorial independence. There is also separate, ongoing litigation over the Trump administration’s attempted appeal of that rule earlier this year.

In addition to Hegseth and Sean Parnell, the Defense Department’s chief spokesperson, the lawsuit filed Thursday also names Andrew Brey, principal deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, as a defendant.

Spokespeople for the Defense Department did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment about the lawsuit.

Both Slavin and Korte received approval from supervisors to participate in the CBS interview last month, according to the complaint. Slavin said in the interview that a hypothetical “red line” for him would be being ordered to publish content written by the Pentagon, while Korte said she worked for the newspaper — “not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.”

The lawsuit characterizes both statements, among others they made, as expressions of their personal opinions. In an email to Parnell, Lederer said he believed the segment “effectively presented Stars and Stripes’ historic role,” according to the complaint.

The day after the story on the USS Lincoln was published, according to the complaint, officials ordered Lederer to fire Slavin and Korte for “insubordination,” citing their statements to CBS. But Lederer refused, instead opting to retire “because he did not want to be part of Defendants’ scheme to illegally punish Mr. Slavin and Ms. Korte for exercising their First Amendment rights,” the complaint states.

Just more than a week after Lederer’s retirement announcement, on Aug. 21, department officials attempted to fire all three journalists, citing their statements to the media “as grounds for their termination.” The complaint states that the plaintiffs are seeking a temporary restraining order preventing their firings from taking effect Friday, alleging that the terminations would violate the First Amendment.

In a post on X regarding the lawsuit, Korte, who lives in Germany, wrote, “Everyone deserves the right to a free and independent press, especially our service members. This lawsuit is about safeguarding the mission of Stars and Stripes journalists so they can continue to do their jobs without fear or retaliation.”

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