Rubio Reveals Biden's State Department Kept Dossiers on Trump Officials

Secretary of State Marco Rubio disclosed during a Cabinet meeting that the Biden administration’s State Department maintained files on Americans, including a Trump official, accused of spreading disinformation.

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Biden administration’s State Department had been keeping dossiers on Americans labeled as “vectors of disinformation.” Rubio specifically mentioned that one unidentified Trump administration official was targeted. He emphasized the existence of an office within the State Department, previously known as the Global Engagement Center, which he shut down earlier this month. Rubio criticized the office for monitoring and censoring American citizens’ social media activities.

The Global Engagement Center, established by former President Barack Obama in 2016 to counter terrorism messaging, expanded its scope to combat foreign propaganda and disinformation. Rubio highlighted that the center engaged with media outlets and platforms to censor speech, drawing accusations from conservatives of being biased. Journalist Matt Taibbi reported that the center had funded secret lists of subcontractors to pioneer new forms of blacklisting, especially during the pandemic.

Elon Musk, who has been vocal against the Global Engagement Center, previously labeled it as the “worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation.” Rubio’s announcement of the office’s closure came after it was rebranded as the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub by the Biden administration before Trump’s inauguration. Rubio stressed that the office’s activities, costing taxpayers over $50 million annually, were antithetical to American principles of free speech and transparency.