Issa Slams State Department Funding of European Group that Developed ‘Enemies List’ of Conservative Media

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Darrell Issa sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for a comprehensive inquiry into federal grants and congressional appropriations awarded by the State Department to the Global Disinformation Index – a Europe-based organization that maintains an exclusion list of conservative media sites to target for “disinformation.”
 
The list included established media outlets including the Washington Examiner, Real Clear Politics, the Federalist, Newsmax, Breitbart, the Daily Wire, One America News, and the New York Post.
 
Following the release of the letter, Congressman Issa made the following statement:
 
“The weaponization by the federal government of the term ‘disinformation’ for the purposes of silencing and censoring free speech must stop. The Department of State’s flagrant disregard in this case is a clear violation of Congressional intent, the principles of our democracy and the inherent rights of all Americans. It is imperative that the Department of State undertake a prompt and comprehensive inquiry into any grants, authorities, and policies that may be improperly and illegally used to curtail the free expression of conservative and domestic media.”

Read the full letter HERE.

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Darrell Issa is the Representative of California’s 48th Congressional District. The District encompasses the central and eastern parts of San Diego County and a portion of Riverside County, including the communities of Fallbrook, Valley Center, Ramona, Escondido, Santee, Lakeside, Poway, Temecula, Murrieta, and the mountain and desert areas of the San Diego-Imperial County line. Issa served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2011-2015.