The Pentagon Secretly Hires Conservative Influencers To Amplify Pete Hegseth’s Agenda

(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

The Pentagon has secretly hired military veterans with massive online followings to act as conservative influencers who can disseminate Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s warrior agenda to the masses.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that although these influencers have been placed in government and some civilian roles, the Pentagon refuses to give details on their assignments, “despite the Trump administration’s claims that they are running the most transparent Defense Department ever.”

But the report made very clear that the goal was to “amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints and attack those who scrutinize the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter and corroborating material.”

The Post’s sources said the influencers include Rob Maness, a retired Air Force colonel; and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel.

“Pentagon records reviewed by The Washington Post show that both have active official government email addresses as of this past week and are assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The email addresses include a ‘.civ’ suffix, meaning they are labeled as civilian employees, rather than as military personnel or contractors,” the report said.

It continued:

Both served for decades in uniform and, since retiring, have turned from the military to conservative commentary. Maness has more than 135,000 followers on X, while Schlicter has nearly 620,000. Another retired Army colonel and influencer, Thomas Anderson, was listed in Pentagon records earlier this year with a “.civ” email address and assigned to Tata’s office, according to people familiar with the matter and records reviewed by The Post. An attorney, he writes online under the pen name Cynical Publius and has more than 323,000 followers on X. He was no longer listed in Pentagon records late this past week, the people familiar with the issue said.

“Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez declined to comment to The Post about whether any of the three are drawing a taxpayer-funded salary, what roles they have or how long those jobs are expected to last,” the report said.

Tata, Maness, Schlichter, and Anderson all declined to comment for the report.

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Democratic and Republican politicians are paying tens of thousands of dollars for influencers on TikTok and other platforms to push their agendas.

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