The secretary of state won’t tap funding approved by Congress, angering officials.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation.
It is highly unusual for a Cabinet secretary to turn down money for his department. But more than five months into his tenure, Tillerson has not issued a simple request for the money earmarked for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, $60 million of which is now parked at the Pentagon. Another $19.8 million sits untouched at the State Department as Tillerson’s aides reject calls from career diplomats and members of Congress to put the money to work against America’s adversaries.
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WNU Editor: Americans have never been very good at propaganda .... certainly when it comes to messaging a point of view towards Russia. As for ISIS .... word of mouth on the atrocities that they have committed will go farther than any U.S. message on their crimes.
Tillerson stands to lose $19.8 billion in profit's, bonuses and shares if Exxon deal fails due to sanctions.
ReplyDelete"But a former senior State Department official told Politico that Tillerson aide R.C. Hammond suggested the secretary of state doesn’t want to fully fund the unit for fear of angering Putin."
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/08/tillerson-rejects-80-million-to-fight-russian-and-isis-propaganda-and-his-reasons-are-alarming/amp/