A Trump official who dismantled a counter-disinformation workplace in america authorities has hyperlinks to the Kremin, the Telegraph reported on June 3.
Darren Beattie, who was appointed to the State Division in February 2025 as underneath secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, has come underneath scrutiny for his pro-Russian views. In response to the Telegraph, Beattie is married to a Russian lady with hyperlinks to the Kremlin.
His spouse – Yulia Kirillova – is the niece of Sergei Chernikov, a former Russian official who reportedly helped Russian President Vladimir Putin within the election marketing campaign which first introduced him to energy in 2000.
Beattie notably performed a task in dismantling the Counter Overseas Info Manipulation and Interference workplace, or R/FIMI, which was beforehand tasked with monitoring and countering disinformation from Russia, China, and Iran.
R/FIMI was formally shut down in April 2025, in accordance with a press assertion from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who claimed that the workplace "spent thousands and thousands of {dollars} to actively silence and censor the voices of Individuals they have been purported to be serving."
In response to sources cited by the Telegraph, Beattie relentlessly pursued R/FIMI after his appointment to the State Division. Secretary Rubio confirmed that Beattie performed a big function in dismantling the company.
Beattie additionally confirmed a eager curiosity in categorised supplies associated to Russia, elevating issues about granting him entry to delicate data. The sources additionally expressed issues about whether or not he had been adequately vetted – a course of that may take wherever from a few months to over a 12 months to finish.
Beattie beforehand served within the first Trump administration however was ousted after allegedly attending a white nationalist convention in 2018. Since then, he reinvented himself as an "alt-right media" determine and based the information outlet Revolver.
Via Revolver, Beattie has lengthy criticized R/FIMI and promoted narratives aligned with Kremlin disinformation. He has argued that the U.S. orchestrates "shade revolutions" all over the world, together with in Ukraine – a typical narrative utilized in Kremlin propaganda to delegitimize pro-democracy actions as Western-backed coups.
Beattie has additionally written social media posts suggesting that Western establishments must be "infiltrated" by the Kremlin, and has attacked the so-called "globalist American empire."
Two months earlier than Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Beattie wrote on X: "Think about the whining from the Globalist American Empire if Putin 'invades' Ukraine… like it when our nationwide safety bureaucrats fail!"
The Trump administration has repeatedly come underneath fireplace for its perceived sympathies towards Russia. It has additionally been criticized for shuttering R/FIMI, notably amidst a world "data battle."
In response to the Nationwide Endowment for Democracy, Russia spends an estimated $1.5 billion yearly on disinformation and international affect campaigns. In Europe alone, the Kremlin is believed to be behind 80% of disinformation operations.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova
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