# Covert Pentagon propagandists are tracking anti-war Americans, skirting the law - The Grayzone *Canonical page:* https://truthscore.com/source/f88d50d7 *Machine twins:* https://truthscore.com/source/f88d50d7.md · JSON at https://truthscore.com/api/v1 Publisher: The Grayzone - News and investigative journalism on empire · published 2026-09-15 · read 2026-09-16 Original: https://thegrayzone.com/2026/09/15/covert-pentagon-propagandists-tracking-americans/ *A source is testimony, not proof. The document itself is never republished here.* ## Who is named (21) - [Marco Rubio](https://truthscore.com/entity/085cacb6) - [US state department](https://truthscore.com/entity/145d1dee) - [Elon Musk](https://truthscore.com/entity/1a724e65) - [Donald Trump](https://truthscore.com/entity/1d81dc68) - [Washington Post](https://truthscore.com/entity/202610e9) - [U.S. Customs and Border Protection](https://truthscore.com/entity/2732edf0) - [Laura Loomer](https://truthscore.com/entity/3c8d96f7) - [DSA Explorer](https://truthscore.com/entity/43506fd5) - [Deseret News](https://truthscore.com/entity/4751728e) - [Jennica Pounds](https://truthscore.com/entity/56e0c1c8) - [Max Blumenthal](https://truthscore.com/entity/65738e30) - [U.S. Department of War](https://truthscore.com/entity/6d0485f2) - [Disinformation Governance Board](https://truthscore.com/entity/93ae33be) - [Autistici Inventati](https://truthscore.com/entity/960cb858) - [Sarah B. Rogers](https://truthscore.com/entity/96c01957) - [Joel Valdez](https://truthscore.com/entity/a473a6b0) - [Department of Government Efficiency](https://truthscore.com/entity/b89777df) - [Pete Hegseth](https://truthscore.com/entity/c7e5e438) - [Tucker Carlson](https://truthscore.com/entity/e78a5b3c) - [Global Engagement Center](https://truthscore.com/entity/f28268f1) - [Noblogs](https://truthscore.com/entity/f71d535b) ## What it added - [The U.S. Department of War employs conservative influencers as special government employees to conduct propaganda and surveillance.](https://truthscore.com/claim/c0c7c655) > the Pentagon appears to be breaking the law by paying conservative influencers to track, surveil, and propagandize Americans - [Jennica Pounds was employed by the U.S. Department of War as a special government employee in mid‑August.](https://truthscore.com/claim/fb35d2e0) > In mid-August, a conservative activist using the digital moniker “Datarepublican” quietly admitted she was employed by the Pentagon as a “special government employee.” - [Datarepublican was identified in 2025 as Jennica Pounds, a Utah‑based mother.](https://truthscore.com/claim/2a5dafbc) > Datarepublican was identified in 2025 as Jennica Pounds, a Utah‑based mother - [On August 29, Washington Post reporters revealed at least three more digital activists working for the Pentagon.](https://truthscore.com/claim/d8e26e82) > On August 29th, Washington Post reporters revealed at least three more digital activists are surreptitiously working for the Pentagon - [The Pentagon’s operation is in breach of the Hatch Act and the Smith‑Mundt Act.](https://truthscore.com/claim/888d9d77) > The operation appears to be in breach of two federal laws, the Hatch Act and the Smith‑Mundt Act - [Sarah B. Rogers attempted to set up Jennica Pounds by leaking documents to her.](https://truthscore.com/claim/e30844a9) > Pounds – posting under the pseudonym Datarepublican – claimed that Trump’s undersecretary for public diplomacy at the State Department, Sarah B. Rogers, attempted to “set [her] up” by leaking documents to her - [The leaked documents related to the Global Engagement Center.](https://truthscore.com/claim/62be3ca5) > The documents in question related to the Global Engagement Center (GEC) - [The Global Engagement Center was an Obama‑era agency at the State Department meant to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation aimed at Americans.](https://truthscore.com/claim/3771b6a0) > The Global Engagement Center (GEC), an Obama‑era agency at the State Department officially meant to counter foreign “propaganda and disinformation efforts” aimed at Americans - [The Disinformation Governance Board was created in 2022 and shut down months later.](https://truthscore.com/claim/228cefc3) > When it was unveiled in 2022, the DGB, a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security, was roundly mocked on social media - [The Global Engagement Center was defunded in late 2024 and permanently closed in April 2025 by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.](https://truthscore.com/claim/d45f9650) > The State Department agency was effectively defunded in late 2024 when Congress declined to reauthorize funds for the GEC, and its closure was made permanent when Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, fully disassembled the office in April 2025. - [The U.S. military confirmed that Jennica Pounds serves at the Department of War as a Special Government Employee three days after an AF Post post on August 21.](https://truthscore.com/claim/8fdbbd19) > Three days later, the US military corroborated that “Ms. Pounds serves at the Department of War as a Special Government Employee.” - [A federal hiring freeze began in January 2025, after which the Trump administration increased reliance on Special Government Employees.](https://truthscore.com/claim/02629839) > under Trump, who instituted a federal hiring freeze immediately upon taking office in January 2025, the federal government has effectively stopped accepting applications from normal would‑be government workers. - [Elon Musk was designated a Special Government Employee while heading the Department of Government Efficiency.](https://truthscore.com/claim/0777c0ca) > That strategy was first tested with Elon Musk, who was designated a Special Government Employee when he pursued spending cuts as head of the newly‑formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). - [In April 2026, Jennica Pounds announced she had become an officially credentialed Pentagon press corps member, a arrangement made possible by Deputy Pentagon…](https://truthscore.com/claim/0adeeff8) > When Pounds was finally exposed as a Special Government Employee in August, her proximity to the Pentagon had been hinted at for several months, beginning in April 2026, when she took to Twitter to boast that she’d become an “officially credentialed Pentagon press corps” member. This arrangement was made possible by Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez - [Jennica Pounds’s press credential expired in June 2026 and she began working for the Department of War in July 2026.](https://truthscore.com/claim/e349d731) > Pounds’s press credential “expired in June 2026, and she did not seek a renewal.” Instead, she simply “began working for the Department in July 2026.” - [A Deseret News article dated March 11, 2025 reported that Jennica Pounds hinted at future government work while awaiting a background check.](https://truthscore.com/claim/3b4c1d9e) > “Pounds said she is unable to “discuss details about potential employers,” but she hinted at a future “working within the government,” and previously said she is waiting on a federal “background check,”” the outlet stated in an article dated March 11, 2025. - [On August 28, Jennica Pounds unveiled the DSA Explorer database tracking anti‑imperialist groups.](https://truthscore.com/claim/b1bd2c47) > On August 28, the Pentagon special government employee unveiled a new digital database tracking those she accused of “orbiting the anti‑imperialist spine,” called “DSA Explorer.” - [The Noblogs platform was hacked on August 26, and the files were seized from the Italian anarchist collective Autistici Inventati.](https://truthscore.com/claim/8a6480a6) > The “Noblogs” files were seized from the Italian anarchist collective Autistici Inventati, or A/I, … when it was hacked by a US government faction – just days after the State Department declared A/I a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.” When it was overtaken on August 26, the page was defaced with a message telling users that all their information had been “saved and given to the United States government.” - [Laura Loomer called for Max Blumenthal’s arrest, and five days later Customs and Border Patrol seized his electronic devices at Dulles International Airport.](https://truthscore.com/claim/cca190fb) > Loomer demanded his arrest, writing … “If Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is worth anything, he will order that Blumenthal be taken off the plane …” Five days after her post, Blumenthal was stripped of his electronic devices by Customs and Border Patrol agents at Dulles International Airport - [Pete Hegseth forced longtime Pentagon correspondents to sign loyalty oaths in October 2025, prompting a mass walkout by military reporters.](https://truthscore.com/claim/e9e57427) > When Hegseth tried to force longtime Pentagon correspondents to sign draconian loyalty oaths in October 2025, prompting a mass walkout by military reporters - [Laura Loomer received press passes and was called on at a Pentagon briefing in December.](https://truthscore.com/claim/cf179e9e) > When the group sat down for its first press briefing in December, Loomer was one of the first to be called on. - [Laura Loomer said Americans may need another 9/11 to understand that Muslims should not be involved in U.S. politics.](https://truthscore.com/claim/b59467a8) > Loomer hit a new low when she publicly declared that Americans may “need another 9/11” so they understand that “it’s not such a great idea to allow for Muslims to be involved in our political process in America.” - [Tucker Carlson referred to Laura Loomer as “some kind of informal advisor to the Defense Department” in an October 2025 interview.](https://truthscore.com/claim/64e33fe1) > In an October 2025 interview with former Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson referred to Loomer as “some kind of informal advisor to the Defense Department, wandering around the Pentagon.” - [Laura Loomer claimed in early September 2026 that she had an inside story about Pete Hegseth’s recent disappearance from Fox News.](https://truthscore.com/claim/900fd58f) > To this day, Loomer’s proximity to Pentagon leadership remains on full display, surfacing most recently when the self‑styled “White advocate” claimed in early September to have the inside story about Hegseth’s recent disappearance from the airwaves at Fox News ## What it cost Reading this document into the graph cost $0.03.