America First Legal Profile picture
May 24, 2023 38 tweets 14 min read Read on X
/1🚨BREAKING — America First Legal released documents obtained from a FOIA lawsuit against the Department of State, exposing how the Global Engagement Center carries out state propaganda through private media organizations.

Disturbing thread below ⤵️
/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).
/3 IFCN received its initial funding from the Department of State-funded National Endowment for Democracy, the Omidyar Network, Google, Facebook, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. ImageImage
/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. Image
/5 The GEC regularly works with IFCN on targeted campaigns.

For example, the GEC worked closely with Baybars Orsek, Poynter’s director of international programming, to set up an IFCN partner in Tunisia.

The “GEC-funded project” would work on “achieving two main objectives: ImageImage
/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”… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
/7 In particular, the GEC aimed to ensure that two specific media organizations in Tunisia would “absorb the fact-checking skills” to censor disfavored narratives from the news. Image
/8 Another email conversation later shows a GEC official thanking the IFCN International Training Manager for “speaking with AfricaCheck about [her] work in Tunisia.” Image
/9 AfricaCheck is a fact-checking organization, substantially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Google News Initiative, the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, the IFCN, the Omidyar Network, the Department of State, and earned income through Facebook.
/10 Another email shows the IFCN soliciting the GEC to do additional programming in Egypt (and presumably with additional American taxpayer funding). Image
/11 When threatened, they join together to protect their mutual interests. ImageImageImage
/12 On the other hand, they exclude other media organizations with whom they disagree…keep reading.
/13 For example David Mikkelson of @snopes attempted to discredit the @DailyCaller to kick them out of their Google Groups on “Combating Fake News: The Science of Misinformation,” even though another member raised the point that Daily Caller had the same “source-credibility”… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… ImageImage
/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. ifcncodeofprinciples.poynter.org/know-more/the-…
/15 For example, a professional fact-checker at PolitiFact, which is operated by the Poynter Institute, appeared to rely on the GEC to debunk a “claim [that] stems from the letter that GOP senators wrote to the Biden Administration,” even though the GEC was under the Biden Admin. Image
/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.
/17 @washingtonpost readily jumped into the conversation to discredit the @nypost reporting on Hunter Biden’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…
/19 On the same day, Ellen Nakashima, a national security reporter with the Washington Post “covering election security,” reached out to the GEC requesting a call on “more declassified Russian disinformation.” Image
/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.” ImageImage
/21 On October 16, 2020, Ellen Nakashima sent another email to the GEC to inquire about “upcoming releases by the GEC.” Image
/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. Image
/23 Nakashima also highlighted numerous federal agency lines of effort to combat “Russian interference,” including the GEC’s August 2020 report exposing websites and organizations as Russian sites spreading disinformation. Image
/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…
/25 …even though the lists “included multiple Western government accounts and at least three CNN employees based abroad.”
/26 Mainstream media outlets eagerly rely on the GEC as an authoritative source based on its credibility and presumed access to accurate intelligence.
/27 As the fact-check by PolitiFact above demonstrates, however, this presents the risk that critical investigative journalists become nothing more than state media mouthpieces…
/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. ImageImage
/29 Meanwhile, on February 2, 2021, New York Times reporter Julian Barnes obtains an introduction to the GEC through his National Security Agency (NSA) contact for his story on “Russian anti-vax disinformation.” Image
/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 Image
/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.” Image
/32 Finally, on March 7, 2021, the Wall Street Journal published the story the GEC wanted. wsj.com/articles/russi… ImageImage
/33 Disappointingly for the New York Times reporter, the Wall Street Journal was finally able to run with the story. Image
/34 One day later, Deirdre Shesgreen with @USATODAY eagerly reached out to the GEC to learn more about the Wall Street Journal’s story. Image
/35 The GEC’s financial support of these media organizations also implicates the supposed “independence” of their reporting…read on.
/36 The GEC “Information Access Fund” appears to pay for the licensing of free New York Times content—in English and Mandarin—in newsrooms across the Pacific Islands. Image
/37 The Associated Press also appears to rely on funding from the Department of State in the Pacific Islands. Image
/38 We will continue to expose this influence operation to the American people. Read the full production here:
aflegal.org/america-first-…

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More from @America1stLegal

Jul 2
/1🚨BREAKING — AFL just SUED HHS, CMS, and HRSA to expose an ILLEGAL Biden-era plan to give out organ transplants based on RACE and ETHNICITY — not medical need.

DEI in healthcare is DEADLY. Image
/2 In December 2021, Biden’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sought public comments on how to “Advance Equity and Reduce Disparities in Organ Transplantation.” Image
/3 In January 2022, Biden’s Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) announced new reporting requirements for tracking the race and ethnicity of transplant candidates and recipients. Image
Read 9 tweets
Jul 2
Fox News on AFL’s complaint against the Dodgers:

“A federal civil rights complaint has been filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the Los Angeles Dodgers… for allegedly engaging in ‘unlawful discrimination.’ Image
“The complaint was filed by America First Legal, the nonprofit conservative public interest organization, against both entities, which are led by Mark Walter, the majority owner of the Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners.” Image
“‘Their employment practices, as described below, appear to discriminate against employees, or prospective employees, solely because of their skin color or sex. This is patently unlawful,’ AFL’s complaint, which was provided to Fox News Digital, began.” Image
Read 7 tweets
Jun 26
/1🚨VICTORY — AFL secured a SIX-FIGURE SETTLEMENT from Montgomery County Public Schools after a court found its “Staff Pride” group likely violated the First Amendment by blocking our client on X for criticizing it for stripping parents’ rights to opt kids out of LGBT curriculum. Image
/2 In November 2023, AFL sued MCPS on behalf of @bethanyshondark and @MatthewFoldi after MCPS employees used a government-run social media account to silence critics of their far-left agenda. Image
@bethanyshondark @MatthewFoldi /3 In denying MCPS’s motion to dismiss, the court said, “Mandel was iced out while others who shared the Pride Members’ views and supported the MCPS policies were not similarly restricted.”
Read 11 tweets
Jun 25
/1🚨BREAKING — AFL just SUED IBM for illegal DEI-driven discrimination.

IBM leadership on a team call:

“Look at all the black and brown faces on this call.”

“If he keeps it up, he can expect a long career at IBM and lots of bonuses.” Image
/2 With JW Howard Attnys, AFL filed a lawsuit on behalf of John Loeffler, a high-performing technical seller for IBM’s Cloud Platform who spent nearly a decade delivering results.

IBM targeted him for termination because he didn’t check its DEI boxes:

❌ Older
❌ White
❌ Male Image
/3 AFL’s lawsuit alleges IBM engaged in illegal race, sex, and age discrimination by terminating Loeffler after placing him on a pretextual Performance Improvement Plan — all to deliver on its DEI agenda.
Read 12 tweets
Jun 25
/1🚨BREAKING — AFL filed a federal civil rights complaint against Colorado State University with the Department of Education for ILLEGAL DEI policies violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and President Trump’s Executive Order, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit.” Image
/2 CSU President Amy Parsons sent a campus-wide letter claiming the university complies with federal law — despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Rather than ending its unlawful DEI programs, CSU simply renamed them to create the illusion of compliance.
/3 CSU’s “Office of Inclusive Excellence” overhauled its website to hide illegal DEI policies — but scrubbing the language doesn’t change the reality.

These policies are still enforced across campus, and CSU continues to violate federal law.
Read 10 tweets
Jun 12
/1🚨BREAKING: AFL SUES MARICOPA COUNTY TO STOP ILLEGAL ELECTION POWER GRAB🚨

Maricopa County is trying to unlawfully seize control of election operations in Arizona.

AFL just filed a lawsuit to stop this illegal election interference.

🧵👇 Image
/2 AFL filed the lawsuit against the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on behalf of Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap.

The board is attempting to unlawfully seize control of election operations by refusing to give Recorder Heap the resources he needs to fulfill his statutory duty to administer elections.Image
/3 Arizona law requires the board to fully fund the recorder’s necessary expenses.

Despite this, the board recently passed a budget that permanently transfers the recorder’s key statutory duties to itself and underfunds the recorder’s office.
Read 11 tweets

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