Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is looking at appointing Lea Gabriel of Fox News to head the State Department’s anti-propaganda office. Gabriel is also a former Navy pilot.
According to Foreign Policy:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is eyeing a Fox News correspondent and former U.S. Navy pilot to head the State Department’s struggling anti-propaganda office as Washington grapples with how to push back against Russian disinformation and election interference in the run-up to the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Lea Gabrielle is the leading contender to become the new chief of the Global Engagement Center, five officials and sources familiar with internal deliberations confirmed to Foreign Policy. The news was first reported by CNN.
Once an obscure office buried deep within the bureaucracy of Foggy Bottom, the center has emerged as a political lightning rod in Washington amid an intense debate over how to counter Russian election interference and propaganda.
But the Trump administration’s disjointed response to Russian influence operations has left the center starved of cash and leadership at a time when senior intelligence officials are warning that foreign propaganda efforts are increasing.
The center has been questioned for its effectiveness recently but it looks like Secretary Pompeo is working to bring it back to prominence, or at least efficiency.
