America First Legal posted a lengthy Twitter thread on Wednesday exposing the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC). The GEC was carrying out US government propaganda through private media organizations.
The Global Engagement Center defines its mission as: “To direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations.”
The GEC’s stated mission is to address “foreign adversaries’ attempts to undermine US interests using disinformation and propaganda.” But they were doing more than targeting “foreign adversaries.”
America First Legal was able to piece together how the US government is funding private entities to silence opposing voices at home who challenge the US government narrative.
/2 The GEC routinely coordinates with a global cartel of “independent” “fact-checkers” led by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies (which operates Politifact) and members of its International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
The GEC funds Poynter Institutes’ International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and members of its international fact-checking network.
The IFCN also received its initial funding from the Omidyar Network, Google, Facebook, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and George Soros’s Open Society.
The IFCN was nominated for a Pulitzer for their work in censoring and blacklisting opposing voices not sanctioned by government officials (Ex. Gateway Pundit, RFK Jr.’s Children’s Defense Fund).
/4 Members of this vast cartel range from independent foreign journalists to professional fact-checkers to American mainstream media organizations like the Associated Press and USA Today.
Notably, Poynter’s IFCN received a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. pic.twitter.com/WMK43siNUN
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
The State Department’s GEC regularly works with the IFCN.
/6 The GEC also funded a grant through the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) on “Empowering Fact-Checking in the Global South,” and it enlisted Baybars Orsek and Alanna Dvorak, Poynter’s International Training Manager, for a potential “mentorship through Poynter/IFCN”…
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/8 Another email conversation later shows a GEC official thanking the IFCN International Training Manager for “speaking with AfricaCheck about [her] work in Tunisia.” pic.twitter.com/wfHesf3aNi
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/10 Another email shows the IFCN soliciting the GEC to do additional programming in Egypt (and presumably with additional American taxpayer funding). pic.twitter.com/DcmS5sJSu4
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
They exclude media outlets they disagree with.
/12 On the other hand, they exclude other media organizations with whom they disagree…keep reading.
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/14 The work of the international fact-checking cartel might be admirable if it actually lived up to its “commitment to Non-partisanship and Fairness,” but their methods appear strongly biased towards the promotion of State-approved talking points. https://t.co/zCeAbumQ2y
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
Their work appears biased in promoting state-approved narratives – no matter how wrong it was.
/16 Next, we further uncovered that news outlets that had been formerly respected for critical investigative journalism are now mere mouthpieces for state media, and their journalists are eagerly willing to spread propaganda on behalf of the GEC.
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
The Washington Post discredited The New York Post’s reporting on Hunter’s Laptop.
/18 On October 14, 2020, the New York Post published the now-infamous story based on a laptop detailing how Hunter Biden used the position and influence of his father for personal gain and with the apparent awareness of now-President Biden…
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
The notorious deep state WaPo reporter Ellen Nakashima is outed in the report.
/18 On October 14, 2020, the New York Post published the now-infamous story based on a laptop detailing how Hunter Biden used the position and influence of his father for personal gain and with the apparent awareness of now-President Biden…
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/20 October 15, 2020, Ellen Nakashima published an article stating, “The Washington Post was unable to verify the authenticity of the alleged communications,” while alluding to the likelihood that the Hunter Biden story was the product of a “Russian intelligence operation.” pic.twitter.com/wKVeU0UaNp
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/22 On October 21, 2020, less than two weeks before election day, Ellen Nakashima published an article in the Washington Post sounding the alarm on “Russian interference” in the 2020 election cycle. pic.twitter.com/rMyOyDFove
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/24 The GEC report referenced in Ellen Nakashima’s article, however, turned out to be “contradictory” according to @mtaibbi in Twitter Files #17, which detailed how the GEC would send Twitter lists of hundreds of accounts it suspected to be “foreign” disinformation… https://t.co/emtCpGSOqw
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
Mainstream outlets viewed the GEC as the authoritative source – despite their record of disinformation.
/26 Mainstream media outlets eagerly rely on the GEC as an authoritative source based on its credibility and presumed access to accurate intelligence.
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/28 On January 19, 2021, one day before the Biden Adm officially began, a Global Engagement Center Public Affairs Officer attempted to enlist Michael Gordon of the @WSJ to publish a story promoting the GEC’s talking points on Russian disinformation and COVID-19 vaccines. pic.twitter.com/Is9szuDUy8
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/30 On February 4, 2021, with another potential outlet seemingly interested in writing a story on the topic of interest, the GEC shared its talking points with the @nytimes pic.twitter.com/xGLHhpNpWf
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/30 On February 4, 2021, with another potential outlet seemingly interested in writing a story on the topic of interest, the GEC shared its talking points with the @nytimes pic.twitter.com/xGLHhpNpWf
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/31 By February 12, 2021, the GEC Deputy Spokesperson, J.T. Ice, warned Michael Gordon that it will pitch the story to another outlet if the @WSJ didn’t publish the story “imminently.” pic.twitter.com/Abc0ZkgznC
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
/33 Disappointingly for the New York Times reporter, the Wall Street Journal was finally able to run with the story. pic.twitter.com/3XiplezslR
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) May 24, 2023
This is a devastating report exposing much of what The Gateway Pundit assumed and previously reported with even more background.
The government was – AND LIKELY STILL IS – censoring speech in America today. Now they are exposed. It’s time for justice.
