Frank Gaffney, a former Reagan administration official and anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist, on Wednesday denied reports that he has been advising Donald Trump’s transition team.
Gaffney statement just now: “An unattributed quote appeared in the press yesterday indicating I had been appointed to the Trump transition”
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) November 16, 2016
More Gaffney: “In fact, I had not been contacted by anyone from the team and appreciate the campaign’s clarification today”
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) November 16, 2016
Last part of Gaffney: “I look forward to helping President-elect & the national security-minded team he is assembling in whatever way I can”
— Eli Lake (@EliLake) November 16, 2016
The Wall Street Journal had reported that Gaffney “was brought in to assist on national security issues” when Rogers left the transition team. And the New York Times said that Trump’s “inner circle has been relying on” Gaffney and others for advice on national security issues.
During an interview on MSNBC Wednesday morning, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said that Gaffney had not joined the team and is not advising the transition team. When asked if Gaffney had met with Trump in the past two days, Miller avoided answering the question.
Since leaving the Reagan administration, Gaffney founded the Center for Security Policy. When Donald Trump called for Muslims to be banned from entering the United States during the campaign, he cited a poll from the Center for Security Policy.
Gaffney is known for extreme anti-Muslim statements and has claimed that “creeping Sharia” poses a threat to the United States. He has accused members of the Obama administration of being part of the Muslim Brotherhood, specifically Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin. And he was also banned from the conservative CPAC conference for claiming that leaders of the conference were members of the Muslim Brotherhood. He has since returned to the conference.
He has also promoted the conspiracy theory that President Obama was not born in the U.S. and the Center for Security Policy has suggested that Obama is a Muslim.
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Gaffney as “one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.”
Correction: This story originally said that Gaffney joined the Trump transition team, but reports only indicated that he has been advising Trump’s team.
