Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced the closure of the agency’s hub for fighting foreign disinformation campaigns — the final nail in a yearslong effort to shut down the office accused by GOP lawmakers of censoring conservative voices.
In a statement, Rubio claimed the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference office at the State Department, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center, had “spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving.” According to Rubio, the relatively modest federal office expended “more than $50 million per year.”
“This is antithetical to the very principals [sic] we should be upholding and inconceivable it was taking place in America,” Rubio said. “That ends today. Under the administration of President Trump, we will always work to protect the rights of the American people, and this is an important step in continuing to fulfill that commitment.”…
A current State Department official, granted anonymity out of fear of retribution, said Wednesday that “the Kremlin and Chinese Communist Party are cheering today.”
“Our adversaries spread disinformation, deliberately meant to deceive and divide communities and nations and to attack the foundations of democratic societies,” the former official said. “Yet another fissure has been created in our national security that makes America even more vulnerable.”