A watchdog group is probing the State Department for crafting an internal memo used to discredit reports linking the agency to activists accused of censoring conservative media, according to newly revealed documents.
The investigation was launched by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI), a transparency group focused on raising public awareness of government actions.
This week, FGI filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking a copy of the internal press guidance that, as reported by the New York Post in September, was circulated to counter reports from the Washington Examiner and journalist Matt Taibbi, known for his “Twitter Files” investigations. These reports linked the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) to efforts targeting alleged “disinformation” in the U.S.
In addition to the press memo, FGI requested emails and communications since January 2023 between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and top State Department officials. These communications include references to the Washington Examiner, the British group Global Disinformation Index (GDI), and figures such as Matt Taibbi and Gabe Kaminsky, a Washington Examiner journalist. The request also seeks information on the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a State Department-funded organization that has been linked to the GDI.
In February 2023, the Washington Examiner reported that the GEC had funded the Global Disinformation Index, a British organization that pressured advertisers to defund conservative outlets. The press guidance in question was allegedly distributed while lawmakers were investigating the State Department’s funding of the GDI. According to Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the memo falsely implied he had ties to Russia, citing a variation of a quote he had provided to the Washington Examiner about the GDI, thus mischaracterizing his stance.
“The reporting on the Biden-Harris administration’s censorship clearly struck a nerve at the State Department,” said Pete McGinnis, a spokesman for FGI. “Our goal is to uncover who was involved in the blacklisting efforts, why certain individuals and outlets were targeted, and how high up the chain this strategy was developed.”
The National Endowment for Democracy, which had provided funding to the Global Disinformation Index, severed ties with the group following multiple Washington Examinerreports. Both the GDI and the GEC came under fire from the GOP-led House Small Business Committee in a September report, which criticized the agencies for violating their international mandates by funding efforts that influenced domestic media.
A provision in the State Department’s annual appropriations bill, which has cleared the House and is pending Senate negotiation, includes a measure to block future GEC funding over its links to apparent censorship efforts.
