Report: Official State Department Twitter Account Boosted Anti-Trump Politician

An official Twitter account for the U.S. Department of State, managed by tax-payer funded employees, had “inappropriately” used the account to promote an anti-Trump politician, according to a State Department official that told the Washington Free Beacon last week.

On Friday, the report claimed that the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance (AVC) retweeted a message from anti-Trump Republican turned “independent” Joe Walsh, who attempted and failed to primary former President Donald Trump during his 2020 reelection campaign.

“Democrats, please pay attention to what happened in San Francisco yesterday,” Walsh tweeted, referring to the three San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) school board members who got overwhelmingly recalled by voters who were angry at the local school district over the interminable closures of the coronavirus pandemic.

Democrats, please pay attention to what happened in San Francisco yesterday.

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 16, 2022

“Walsh and others appeared to be indicating that Democrats who support pandemic school closures could be at risk ahead of midterm elections later this year,” the Free Beacon wrote.

The report added:

The AVC bureau’s retweet of this message raised eyebrows among congressional observers who questioned why a federal agency focused on arms control would wade into such a fraught political debate.

…

One congressional source who spoke to the Free Beacon after seeing the retweet expressed shock over the matter. “There’s a rumor circulating around Foggy Bottom that Secretary Blinken is considering changing the name of the ‘AVC’ Bureau to ‘DNC,’” the source said, referring to the Democratic National Committee.

When the State Department spokesman was asked about the matter, the spokesman told the publication that the Twitter account for AVC retweeted Walsh’s tweet by an “unauthorized individual” and was eventually “deleted” after officials realized what happened.

“There was an unauthorized use of an official State Department Twitter account. When alerted, the managers of the account deleted the unauthorized retweet and changed the password,” the official said.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.