Former Stars and Stripes ombudsman sues Pentagon over firing

News Former Stars and Stripes ombudsman sues Pentagon over firing Comments: by Ellen Mitchell - 06/26/26 7:28 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ellen Mitchell - 06/26/26 7:28 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Jacqueline Smith, the ombudsman of outlet Stars and Stripes who was ousted in April after she criticized the Pentagon’s new restrictions on the newspaper, is suing the Defense Department.

In a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C., Smith alleges that her firing was retaliatory and violated her First Amendment rights as it happened 10 days after she penned an opinion column criticizing DOD officials for seeking to undermine Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence.”

Defense officials “were working to undermine Stripes’ editorial independence as part of a broader effort to control and neuter the mainstream media’s ability to report on matters of national security and public interest,” according to the complaint.

Smith was near the end of her three-year term as ombudsman – the person responsible for monitoring the outlet’s editorial independence and reporting concerns to Congress – but was removed before she was set to leave in December.

The ombudsman role was created by Congress in 1991 after military personnel in the late 1980s attempted on multiple occasions to suppress unfavorable news of the Iran-Contra affair and other issues.

But the Pentagon in President Trump’s second term has sought to reshape the newspaper’s editorial output, with a March memo outlining changes such as requiring that content be “consistent with good order and discipline of the military” and prohibiting the newspaper from publishing cartoons or stories from other commercial news outlets, such as The Associated Press.

The changes prompted Smith to write a column that claimed they were happening “within the broader context of the Pentagon attempting to restrict the mainstream media,” referring to DOD’s crack down on press access at the building.

Her lawsuit also names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg and top Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell as defendants. It specifically lists Parnell as causing Smith “financial and emotional damages” as he was “personally and directly involved in the decision to terminate” her and she seeks legal damages from him.

Stars and Stripes has operated independently from DOD under a framework established in 1994, despite its staff being Pentagon employees and the newspaper being partly funded by the agency.

Smith’s lawsuit follows that of two advisory board members for Stars and Stripes, who sued the Pentagon earlier this month over allegations that agencies overhaul of the publication is undermining its editorial independence.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to block the Pentagon’s efforts to “exert unprecedented control” over the news outlet, arguing the department is attempting to censor its content.

Parnell at the time claimed the lawsuit “is without merit, and the Department expects to prevail.”

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