Liberal Forum

REX TILLERSON REJECTS $80 MILLION FROM CONGRESS TO FIGHT RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA BECAUSE IT WOULD ANGER MOSCOW

Congress has given $80 million to the State Department to fight Russian propaganda and misinformation, but Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly is reluctant to put it to use.

A former senior State Department official told Politico that Tillerson’s spokesman, R.C. Hammond, suggested using the money to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda would rile Moscow.

“Hammond said the secretary is in the process of working through disagreements with Russia, and this is not consistent with what we’re trying to do,” the official said.

Tillerson and President Donald Trump have been working to mend relations with Russia from their “all-time low point” (in Tillerson’s words) after U.S. intelligence agencies issued a report early this year concluding that the Kremlin worked to interfere in the 2016 election.

Key intelligence agencies found Moscow used a widespread misinformation campaign to achieve its ends.

The Trump campaign is under investigation over whether it helped these efforts.

Trump has repeatedly called the report’s findings a “hoax” and a “ruse” for Democrats to explain why they lost the election.

The money to combat Russian misinformation was set aside by Congress late last year for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center.

The unit was created in the spring of 2016 to combat propaganda from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

But its mission was expanded, along with the fresh funding, at the end of last year in light of Russia’s election meddling and to counter messages from governments in such nations as China, Iran and North Korea.