On August 31, the American media outlet The Washington Post reported exclusively that the Pentagon had secretly appointed several conservative veterans with large online followers to public positions, and refused to disclose their specific duties. These 'internet celebrities' are amplifying Defense Secretary Hagel's views on social media and attacking those who question the policies of the Trump administration.
Several anonymous sources said that some “internet celebrities” have been assigned to civilian positions that may affect policy.
Despite Trump's administration claiming this was "the most transparent Department of Defense in history," officials from the Pentagon and those involved have not released these government positions.
According to people familiar with the matter, the relevant individuals include retired Air Force Colonel Rob Manes and retired Army Colonel Kurt Schlichter.
According to records from the Pentagon, as of last week, both individuals had valid official government email addresses ending in “civ”, and were assigned to the office of Anthony Tatay, the Deputy Secretary of Defense responsible for personnel and combat readiness matters.
Both of them served in the military for several decades, and after retiring, they both turned to conservative commentary. Menes has over 135,000 followers on social media platform X, while Schlichter has nearly 620,000 followers.
Another retired Army colonel and “internet celebrity,” Thomas Anderson also appeared in the Pentagon records earlier this year. He had an “civ” email address and was assigned to the Tata office. He has over 323,000 followers on X. However, people familiar with the matter said that Anderson’s name was removed from the Pentagon records last week.
According to people familiar with the matter, these individuals were appointed as “special government employees” or “highly qualified experts”.
These three individuals had not been reported for their positions before. On social media, some people have noticed and questioned the connections of these “internet celebrities” with the Pentagon.
The Pentagon spokesman Joel Walds refused to comment on whether these three individuals were receiving taxpayer-funded salaries or holding any positions, and also declined to say how long these jobs were expected to last. Tata similarly did not respond to requests for comment.
Reports say that Tata's team has taken on several 'cultural warfare' issues, including censoring the 'awakening' ideology in the War College, and examining how the Biden administration enforced COVID-vaccination mandates for U.S. military personnel.
Hageth was a host on Fox News, constantly trying to reshape public discussions about Pentagon affairs. Last year, she imposed new restrictions on the Pentagon press corps, forcing dozens of journalists to leave the building. Subsequently, she introduced a new group of journalists, mainly from the right-wing camp.
