New Deputy National Security Adviser Served on CSP Board
Charles M. Kupperman, the newly appointed deputy national security adviser, has ties to prolific anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney, the founder of聽the聽Center for Security Policy听(颁厂笔).
Kupperman聽served on the CSP's board from at least 2001 to 2010, according to . CSP subsequently transformed from a conservative think tank to an organization the 澳彩开奖 designated聽as an anti-Muslim hate group in 2015.
During the years Kupperman was on CSP鈥檚 board, Gaffney and his group were pushing out anti-Muslim rhetoric and propaganda. In a 2009 听颈苍 The Washington Times, Gaffney speculated that former President Barack Obama might secretly be a Muslim. And in 2010, CSP 聽its 鈥淭eam B II鈥� report that sought to drum up fear and hysteria about Islamic law in the United States.
Kupperman formerly served as an executive for defense contractors Boeing and Lockheed Martin, both of which have funded CSP in the past. A 听蹿谤辞尘 Salon revealed that CSP received $25,000 from Boeing and $15,000 from Lockheed Martin in 2013.
In 2017, Kupperman 聽a letter urging Trump to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Other signatories included anti-Muslim figures Clare Lopez, also of CSP, 聽and Nina Rosenwald, who鈥檚 been 聽the 鈥渟ugar mama of anti-Muslim hate.鈥� Kupperman鈥檚 hiring came days before a 听蹿谤辞尘 The Wall Street Journal found that last year National Security Adviser John聽Bolton sought options from the Pentagon for a military strike on Iran, alarming those in Washington, D.C.
Kupperman is the latest person with ties to CSP to join the administration. Prior to joining the National Security Council, Bolton was a regular guest on Gaffney鈥檚 radio program. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also a frequent contributor to Gaffney鈥檚 show and spoke at CSP鈥檚 2015 鈥淒efeat Jihad Summit.鈥� White House counselor Kellyanne Conway previously 聽with CSP to produce a shoddy poll that was later used by candidate Trump to call for 鈥渁 total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.鈥� Last May, Bolton hired聽Fred Fleitz, a senior vice president at CSP, as his chief of staff. Fleitz left that position in October 2018 to rejoin聽CSP as president of the group.
Kupperman, a former Reagan administration staffer and defense contractor executive, is a longtime associate of聽Bolton and has聽聽been working in a temporary position at the National Security Council before his appointment on Jan. 11.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify that during Kupperman鈥檚 tenure on the board of Center for Security Policy, the organization had not yet been designated a hate group by the 澳彩开奖. The 澳彩开奖 first listed CSP as a hate group in 2015.
