ctr security policy gaffney

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</div><div>disambig</div><div></div><div>The New Yorker reports that in 2010 Thomas, with Kimberly Fletcher, head of a group called Moms for America, co-hosted the “Remember the Ladies Banquet” at the Liberty xpo & Symposium, described as the “largest conservative training event in history.”  Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, was a speaker at the symposium.The Times notes that in 2019, she “joined the nine-member board of C.N.P Action, an arm of the council organized as a 501(c)4 … that allows for direct political action.” The New Yorker’s Meyer describes C.N.P. Action, “behind closed doors, [it] connects wealthy donors with some of the most radical right-wing figures in America.”The most troubling part of the Times story concerns “the extent to which Justice Thomas flouted judicial-ethical guidance by participating in events hosted by conservative organizations with matters before the court.”  It adds, “those organizations showered the couple with accolades and, in at least one case, used their appearance to attract event fees, donations and new members.”In 2002, Thomas headlined an event for the Council for National Policy and in ’08 he attended one of its meetings and, according to the Times, “was photographed with a gavel behind a lectern bearing the group’s name.”  That same year he offered the keynote address at a special Manhattan Institute event and allegedly attended an all-expenses paid retreat put on by Charles Koch in Palm Springs (CA). (Koch funded a documentary, “Created Equal,” about Thomas.)  In 2017, Thomas made a second appearance at the Eagle Forum when his wife received a special award.Mrs. Thomas attended the 2016 Republican convention as a Sen. Ted Cruz (R-FL) delegate initially opposed to Trump’s nomination.  However, once he was in office, she became a devoted Trump supporter.  Following Kavanaugh’s nomination of the Court in July 2018, Trump invited Justice Thomas to a private dinner at the White House and he brought Mrs. Thomas.  In follow-up, Ginni Thomas sought repeated meetings with Trump, which he apparently obliged.At one, as The New Yorker reports, “by all accounts it was uncomfortable.”  It then notes:<blockquote style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1rem 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px 0.5em 2em; word-break: break-word; overflow-wrap: break-word; border-color: rgb(231, 231, 231); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0.1em;">Thomas opened by saying that she didn’t trust everyone in the room, then pressed Trump to purge his Administration of disloyal members of the “deep state,” handing him an enemies list that she and Groundswell had compiled. Some of the participants prayed, warning that gay marriage, which the Supreme Court legalized in 2015, was undermining morals in America.</blockquote>The Times notes that a Trump aide told reporters that “she [Thomas] began by leading the prayer.”  It also reported the aide mentioned “talk about ‘the transgender agender’ and parents ‘chopping off their children’s breasts.’”  Thomas brought with her Frank Gaffney, head of Center for Security Policy and a leading proponent of banning Muslims, and several other associates.  As Mayer notes, “the White House was not informed that Gaffney’s group had been paying Liberty Consulting for the previous two years.”  The Times reports that an ex-Trump aide called the meeting between the former president and Ginni Thomas as the “craziest” meeting he’d ever attended.</div><div>===</div><div>
</div><div>Another anti-Muslim figurehead involved with CNP is <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr"> Frank Gaffney</a>.

A former Ronald Reagan administration staffer, Gaffney has since become

one of the most prolific anti-Muslim propagandists in the country. He

is gripped by paranoid fantasies of foreign entities such as the Muslim

Brotherhood infiltrating and supplanting the U.S. from within. Gaffney

founded the anti-Muslim hate group <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/center-security-policy"> Center for Security Policy</a> and now serves in an executive chairmanship role at the group.

    <font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pix Frank Gaffney, founder and president of

the Center for Security Policy, testifies during a hearing of the Senate

Judiciary Committee in 2013 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win

McNamee/Getty Images)

</div>

Hatewatch first reported on Gaffney’s CNP membership in the

publication of the group’s 2014 roster. He is listed as a “Gold Circle

Member” in CNP’s September 2020 membership roster. Gold Circle Members

pay a yearly fee of $10,000, as shown by nomination documents. Like

Gabriel, Gaffney’s listed interests at CNP include “Radical Islam.”

Gaffney and the Center for Security Policy did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2016, candidate Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2015/12/07/458836388/trump-calls-for-total-and-complete-shutdown-of-muslims-entering-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> used data</a>

from a shoddy survey commissioned by the Center for Security Policy to

justify his call for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering

the United States.” The survey was done by The Polling Company,

Kellyanne Conway’s company. Conway served as Trump’s senior counselor

and was a member of CNP’s executive committee from 2014 to 2015, tax

records show.

Like other anti-Muslim and far-right <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/03/24/hate-group-leaders-antigovernment-extremists-push-anti-china-coronavirus-rhetoric"> actors</a>,

CNP has begun to frame China as a new Cold War-style adversary. Gaffney

and his group are active in stoking alarmism about the supposed threat

from China. At a CNP conference in August 2020 in Arlington, Virginia,

the coalition’s sister lobbying arm CNP Action, Inc., hosted a panel

titled “Reckoning with China: Action Steps,” according to a <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/10/27/secretive-council-for-national-policy-closely-tied-to-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> leaked copy</a> of the agenda obtained by the watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy. The panel featured Gaffney as a participant.

Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a right-wing activist who is married to U.S.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is also a CNP member and counts

“Radical Islam” among her interests. In 2013, Mother Jones <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/groundswell-rightwing-group-ginni-thomas" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> reported</a> Ginni Thomas and Gaffney were part of another right-wing strategy group known as Groundswell.

CNP has also included Islamophobic figures in its orbit and network.

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former National Security Adviser who was

later pardoned by the former president after lying to the FBI, has ties

to CNP, though he is not listed as a member. Flynn spoke at a CNP Policy Counsel event in July 2016. His name is also <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentAllpress/status/1364480765199704069" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> associated</a> with a CNP Zoominfo <a href="https://archive.is/CF2Kz" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">account</a>,

as uncovered by investigative researcher Brent Allpress, suggesting

Flynn might be involved more formally with the coalition. Flynn has a

history of expressing anti-Islam sentiment, once <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-national-security-adviser-mike-flynn-called/story?id=43575658" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> calling</a>

the religion “a cancer.” In 2016, ACT for America advertised Flynn

serving on its board of advisers. He was also a keynote speaker at ACT’s

2016 conference in Washington, D.C.

In September 2017, longtime anti-Muslim figurehead <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-horowitz"> David Horowitz</a>

(who is not listed as a member) spoke at a CNP conference in Colorado

Springs, Colorado. The theme of the event and Horowitz’s presentation

was “Mapping the Left.” Horowitz heads the eponymously named David

Horowitz Freedom Center, a hate group known for spreading anti-Muslim

sentiment and helping fund other Islamophobic projects such as Jihad

Watch and FrontPage Magazine. Once a leftist in the 1960s, Horowitz now tries to smear his former political affiliation as being totalitarian.

Dr. Mark Christian is listed as a member of CNP’s Board of Governors,

which carries an annual fee of $6,000. Christian runs the anti-Muslim

hate group Global Faith Institute, a group that peddles Islamophobic

conspiracy theories while claiming to advocate for “the victims of

Islam.” Christian is a former Muslim who converted to Christianity. He

joins a cottage industry of former Muslims now disparaging their former

faith. Christian is willing to associate with extreme figures in the

anti-Muslim network, such as the former FBI agent turned anti-Muslim

hate figure <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/03/26/anti-muslim-figure-john-guandolo-posts-%E2%80%98cruel-and-inappropriate%E2%80%99-tweet-about-southwest"> John Guandolo</a>. Christian subscribes to the conspiracy theory that Islamic Sharia law is slowly “creeping” into American society.

“Islam has infiltrated all aspects of our life: our schools,

churches, media, courts, military and our government,” reads a 2017

Global Faith Institute email to supporters. “Every day we are losing

more of our freedom because of creeping sharia law.”

Christian did not answer a request for comment.

CNP’s rosters reveal the membership of other figures known for

spreading Islamophobic rhetoric. One is far-right historian William

“Bill” Federer, who treads in Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ conspiracy

theories. According to the watchdog and research group Right Wing Watch,

Federer <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/right-wing-activist-exposes-the-obama-ferguson-islamist-homosexual-plot-to-destroy-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> once claimed</a>

that an “atheist homosexual gay agenda movement” will “open up” the

U.S. “to move into an Islamic future.” Federer has been featured at

events such as the Values Voter Summit, an annual conference put on by

the Family Research Council. Brigitte Gabriel has also spoken at the

Values Voter Summit in recent years, including 2018 and 2019. Family

Research Council’s executive vice president Jerry G. Boykin is also a

member of CNP.

Boykin has a track record of making anti-Muslim remarks, once <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/boykin-islam-should-not-be-protected-under-the-first-amendment/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> claiming </a> Islam should not be protected by the First Amendment. Boykin used <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7241287/CNP-Policy-Counsel-September-2014-Jerry-Boykin.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> similar rhetoric</a> in a 2014 news briefing for Policy Counsel,

a CNP publication and speaker series to inform the public on a “wide

range of topics” and “variety of opinions.” Boykin goes heavy on the

anti-Islam rhetoric in the article, which touches on the rise and

activities of the terrorist group ISIS at the time. Boykin took issue

with former President Barack Obama’s attempts to not conflate the

terrorist group with a religion of around 1.8 billion people.

“I think most Americans have figured this out,” Boykin said. “When

you say Isis [sic] is not Islam the rest doesn’t really matter because

if you are laying out a strategy that doesn’t start with an

understanding of your enemy and who you are up against and what

motivates him to do what he does the rest doesn’t matter.”

Boykin adds elsewhere: “One of the mistakes that we make about Islam

is that only 16% of Islam is actually a religion.” He claims the rest is

a legal, geopolitical and military system. Claiming Islam is not a

religion – or only part one – is a well-tread trope deployed by

Islamophobic figures. “But only 16% is an actual religion,” he said.

“And we make the mistake of thinking that it’s exactly like

Christianity. It is not.”

CNP’s Policy Counsel includes a disclaimer that views

expressed in the articles are not always representative of the

coalition. “These views should not be construed as the views of the

Council for National Policy, as an attempt to aid or hinder the

enactment of any legislation, or as an intervention in any political

campaign for public office,” the disclaimer reads.

However, as CNP papers brought to light by Documented reveal, the coalition has advocated for policies steeped in Islamophobia.

<h2>Turning interest into action</h2></div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/13/gop-megadonor-mercer-family-donated-to-nonprofit-that-celebrates-english-speaking-peoples.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/13/gop-megadonor-mercer-family-donated-to-nonprofit-that-celebrates-english-speaking-peoples.html</a></div><div>
</div><div>...the  Republican megadonor family led by billionaire Robert Mercer once donated money to a conservative group that bills itself as a promoter of “cultural events for English-speaking peoples.”</div><div class="group" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.66; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: calc(16.6667% + 5px); -webkit-box-flex: 0; flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; min-width: auto; max-width: 100%;">The <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5626415/Mercer-Family-Foundation-990-2017.pdf" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">$25,000 donation was quietly made in 2017</a> through the Mercer Family Trust to the Anglosphere Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group, which has ties to prominent members of the Washington, D.C., power establishment.<div class="BoxInline-container " style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 300px; margin: 0px;"><div id="BoxInline-ArticleBody-5" class="BoxInline-container" data-module="mps-slot" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 300px; margin: 0px;"></div></div></div>The founder of the Anglosphere Society, Amanda Bowman, confirmed in an email and a follow-up interview with CNBC that Mercer’s daughter, Rebekah, directed the contribution to her nonprofit in 2017 in support of an event titled “Leadership in Perilous Times.”“What I was so grateful to Rebekah for was her donations enabled me to invite all these different veterans, and it was just a one-time thing,” Bowman said. She added that the Anglosphere Society did not hear from Mercer again after that donation.A spokesman for Robert Mercer did not return repeated requests for comment. The attorney listed on the family foundation tax form that shows the donation also did not return an email for comment.Bowman said the Mercer donation partially funded the gathering, which featured Fox News analyst Gen. Jack Keane and Gen. David Petraeus, a former CIA director. The two retired generals are pictured together on Anglosphere’s <a href="http://www.theanglospheresociety.org/photos-2017.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">website</a> at the event. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/20/502769948/ret-army-gen-jack-keane-says-he-declined-offer-to-be-defense-secretary" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">Keane has said he turned down an offer</a> from President Donald Trump to serve as Defense secretary.Bowman said the donation came after she and Rebekah Mercer met at a separate meeting for veterans.<div class="MidResponsive-midResponsiveContainer" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div id="MidResponsive-1" class="" data-module="mps-slot" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: sticky; margin: 0px auto;"></div></div>The Anglosphere Society identifies itself on its <a href="http://www.theanglospheresociety.org/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">website</a> as an “independent, educational, non-profit, tax-exempt membership organization focused on promoting the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, free market economies, and cultural events for English-Speaking Peoples.” It also says that it promotes “cultural events for sharing ideas based on the historic values of English-Speaking Peoples.”The group, which was founded in 2012, also promotes itself as having an influential network. Pictures on the group’s website show prominent event attendees such as former Sen. Joe Lieberman, who became an independent after losing a Democratic primary in his state, and Henry Kissinger, who served as secretary of State under President Richard Nixon.<h2 class="ArticleBody-subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: calc(11.1111% + 30px); -webkit-box-flex: 0; flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; min-width: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px;"><a id="headline0" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: underline; cursor: pointer;">Bannon and Cambridge Analytica</a></h2><div class="group" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.66; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: calc(16.6667% + 5px); -webkit-box-flex: 0; flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; min-width: auto; max-width: 100%;">The Mercers used to support former White House chief strategist and Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon, who promoted a nationalist, pro-West agenda. He was formerly the executive chairman of conservative news website Breitbart News, which was funded in part by the Mercers.Trump fired Bannon from the White House in August 2017, which paved the way for Bannon to return to Breitbart. However, in January 2018, Bannon resigned from the media outlet after Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” revealed that he ripped Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son.The family distanced itself from Bannon, and Robert Mercer said in 2017 that he would be selling his stake in Breitbart to his daughters. The elder Mercer also stepped down as co-CEO of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies last year.The Mercers were also embroiled in the controversy surrounding data-gathering firm Cambridge Analytica, which played a role in attempting to use social media to influence voters during the 2016 campaign. Bannon was once an executive at the firm.Bowman, the Anglosphere Society founder, said she might not have accepted the Mercer donation if she had known about the Mercers’ funding of the now-defunct Cambridge Analytica.“It [the contribution] was before the whole Cambridge Analytica thing had broken. I would’ve been more cautious had I known that. Cambridge Analytica was a scandalous thing, and I wouldn’t have wanted to distract from the cause,” she said.The Mercers spent millions to fund the firm, which harvested the data of millions of Facebook users and then used the information they gathered as a tool to manipulate voters. Cambridge Analytica did some work for the 2016 Trump campaign.Cambridge Analytica has also been accused of having an impact on the vote for the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, also known as Brexit. Facebook has denied that it had any impact on the vote.Bowman, who grew up in the U.K. and later become a U.S. citizen, would not commit to giving back or refunding the $25,000 check now that she’s aware of what took place.She also repeatedly said the Anglosphere Society has no ties to the Trump administration and is nonpartisan. She acknowledged that she has conservative beliefs, but said she does not support Brexit.</div><h2 class="ArticleBody-subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: calc(11.1111% + 30px); -webkit-box-flex: 0; flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; min-width: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px;"><a id="headline1" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: underline; cursor: pointer;">The Mercers and the Anglosphere cause</a></h2><div class="group" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.66; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: calc(16.6667% + 5px); -webkit-box-flex: 0; flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; min-width: auto; max-width: 100%;">Rebekah Mercer, a prolific GOP donor, manages the family’s trust fund. The family spent more than $15 million backing Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Over the years, the elder Mercer has contributed over $10 million to his family’s trust and has led to their assets having a net worth of approximately $30 million, according to the most recent filing.The revelation of the Mercers’ donation to the Anglosphere Society <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/21/robert-mercer-scales-back-gop-support-after-scrutiny-for-backing-trump.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">comes as they try to publicly distance themselves from Trump and the party as a whole</a>. Behind the scenes, though, the family continues supporting causes that match its often-conservative values.The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5626415-Mercer-Family-Foundation-990-2017.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">tax filing</a> showing the Mercers’ Anglosphere donation was first reported by MapLight, a nonpartisan and nonprofit research center that tracks the influence money has on politics. The report focused on how the Mercers funneled <a href="https://maplight.org/story/tax-return-shows-mercer-family-fueled-climate-skeptics-last-year-with-more-than-4-million/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">$4 million to various climate skeptic groups</a>. The report did not discuss the contribution to Anglosphere.Anglosphere’s Bowman is a former New York director of the conservative think tank Center for Security Policy, according to the group’s website. The Center for Security Policy’s executive chairman is Frank Gaffney Jr., who, in 2011, pushed a conspiracy theory claiming that <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/leading-neoconservative-frank-gaffney-argues-muslim-brotherhood-has-infiltrated-the-federal-ab897fdeaab3/#.1pdnbbfip" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">members of President Barack Obama’s administration were affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood</a>. Gaffney is also pictured at at least one of the events hosted by Anglosphere.Bowman explained her past ties to the Center for Security Policy was connected to what she describes as a “post-9/11 situation. I felt it was very important to get engaged in the issues that have led to the attacks.” Bowman said Gaffney is not a member of the Anglosphere Society.Other members of the group’s board include Chair Vicki Downey, who is a lieutenant of Catholic group the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem; Clark Judge, a former speech writer for President Ronald Reagan; and Nina Shea, a director at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.The topics of discussion during Anglosphere’s gatherings, according to its website, range from debating the merits of Brexit, to celebrating Winston Churchill’s birthday as a “celebration of the Anglo-American experience” and “honoring some outstanding Brits who have made a major contribution as American citizens.”On Brexit, the group’s leadership regularly cheers on current Prime Minister Theresa May. Bowman and Lee Cohen, the society’s New York director, penned a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/britains-theresa-may-is-here-and-winston-churchill-is-back" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer;">Fox News opinion article in 2017</a> titled “Britain’s Theresa May is here and Winston (Churchill) is back.” The op-ed praises Trump for a meeting he held with May, saying that the president was signaling “his own reset of the Special Anglo-American Relationship.”</div><div></div>