A federal judge has blocked Voice of America CEO Kari Lake from firing 500 employees and warned in a blistering decision that her agency’s “disrespect” toward the court merited a trial for civil contempt.

Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, wrote that the only reason he was not initiating contempt proceedings was that the plaintiffs in the case hadn’t asked for them.

The court’s decision not to pursue contempt of its own accord “should not be mistaken for lenience toward the defendants’ egregious erstwhile conduct,” he wrote.

In March, the congressionally established U.S. Agency for Global Media—overseen by Lake, a former Fox News host—moved to fire about 600 of its 1,040 full-time employees and place another 400 on administrative leave.

The move, which was in response

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