EXCLUSIVE: State Dept. Officials Accused Of Retaliation Handle Internal 'Dissent Channel'
By Alice Ollstein | March 19, 2018 1:30 pm
Two State Department officials involved in an effort to sideline a civil servant suspected of disloyalty to the President also oversee an internal communications channel that allows department employees to question the administration’s policy decisions.
The two officials’ management of the channel likely gives them access to the names of U.S. diplomats and other agency employees who openly disagree with administration policy — information that independent watchdogs and members of Congress fear could be used in the effort to marginalize those deemed insufficiently loyal.
Informed of the officials’ role by TPM, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee called for an overhaul of the channel’s management to ensure it’s run by non-partisan actors.
Brian Hook, who held various government positions under the George W. Bush administration and who was appointed by President Trump last year, is currently the director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff. Hook also has worked for Iowa’s former Republican Governor Terry Branstad. Edward Lacey, a career staffer since 2003, is Hook’s deputy in that office.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/state-dept-officials-accused-of-retaliation-handle-internal-dissent-channel
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