con inc
Three retired officers received undisclosed civilian roles as they used massive social-media audiences to amplify the Defense secretary.
The Pentagon quietly installed three conservative military influencers in civilian government roles while refusing to disclose their duties, compensation, or employment terms.
The Washington Post reported that retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness, retired Army Col. Kurt Schlichter, and retired Army Col. Thomas Anderson — known online as Cynical Publius — received positions inside the Defense Department.
Pentagon records reportedly showed Maness and Schlichter with active “.civ” government email addresses assigned to Undersecretary Anthony Tata’s personnel-and-readiness office. Anderson appeared in Pentagon records earlier this year before disappearing from the listing.
Post reporter Dan Lamothe disclosed that the men traveled for Pete Hegseth’s Senior Service College Task Force, which examines alleged “woke” activity at military colleges.
The Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez refused to say whether taxpayers funded their salaries, what work they performed, or how long their roles would continue. Tata and all three influencers declined comment.
GenXGirl identified the operation as government employees “propagandizing Americans,” later writing, “These people are hired to sell war.”
The Pentagon is not running a private media company. If these jobs serve the American people, taxpayers deserve the names, assignments, salaries, and deliverables — not secret personnel records and social-media propaganda.
