Editing Frank Gaffney (section)

===Center for Security Policy===
{{main|Center for Security Policy}}
In 1988, Gaffney established the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a [[Washington, D.C.]]–based [[national security]] [[think tank]] that has been widely described as engaging in [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorizing]] by a range of individuals, media outlets and organizations. Its activities are focused on exposing and researching perceived [[jihadist]] threats to the United States. The Center has been described as "not very highly respected" by [[BBC News]] and "disreputable" by ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]''. It has faced strong criticism from people across the political spectrum, but has also had its reports cited by political figures such as US President [[Donald Trump]] and former Congresswoman [[Michele Bachmann]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Trump's 'Muslim lockdown': What is the Center for Security Policy?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35037943|access-date=December 10, 2015|work=BBC News|date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212201215/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35037943|archive-date=December 12, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cruz's cynical Trump detente: They're good buddies now, but wait until The Donald's support drops|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/08/28/cruzs_cynical_trump_detente_theyre_good_buddies_now_but_wait_until_the_donalds_support_drops/|access-date=December 10, 2015|work=Salon|date=August 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227043440/http://www.salon.com/2015/08/28/cruzs_cynical_trump_detente_theyre_good_buddies_now_but_wait_until_the_donalds_support_drops/|archive-date=December 27, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cockburn|first1=Alexander|title=The Politics of Anti-Semitism|date=2003|publisher=AK|isbn=978-1902593777|page=[https://archive.org/details/politicsofantise00alex/page/132 132]|url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofantise00alex/page/132}}</ref> In 2010 Gaffney became a trustee of the Center for Security Policy.<ref name=GaffneyBoard>{{cite web|website=ProPublica - Nonprofit Explorer|title=Center for Security Policy - IRS Form-990 yr2010|access-date=2023-06-06|date=2011-08-26|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/521601976/2011_12_EO%2F52-1601976_990_201012}}</ref> CSP has been described as an "extremist think tank" by the Center for New Community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/religious-rights/252605-anti-muslim-bigotry-has-no-place-in-politics/|title=Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in politics|website=The Hill|date=September 3, 2015|author=Terri A. Johnson and [[J. Richard Cohen]]|access-date=September 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006111445/http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/religious-rights/252605-anti-muslim-bigotry-has-no-place-in-politics|archive-date=October 6, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, the CSP was classified by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC) as a "hate group".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2016/02/17/splcs-intelligence-report-amid-year-lethal-violence-extremist-groups-expanded-ranks-2015|title=SPLC's Intelligence Report: Amid Year of Lethal Violence, Extremist Groups Expanded Ranks in 2015|access-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811080453/https://www.splcenter.org/news/2016/02/17/splcs-intelligence-report-amid-year-lethal-violence-extremist-groups-expanded-ranks-2015|archive-date=August 11, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The SPLC describes Gaffney as "one of America’s most notorious [[Islamophobia|Islamophobes]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=Frank Gaffney Jr|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=December 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208040627/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frank-gaffney-jr|archive-date=December 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Gaffney and the CSP have also been described as influential parts of the [[counter-jihad]] movement.<ref name="vox">{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/world/2017/2/13/14559822/trump-islam-muslims-islamophobia-sharia|title=Trump's counter-jihad|date=February 13, 2017|work=Vox|last=Beauchamp|first=Zack|access-date=October 31, 2022|archive-date=June 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608051716/https://www.vox.com/world/2017/2/13/14559822/trump-islam-muslims-islamophobia-sharia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="pertwee">{{cite journal|title=Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution|first=Ed|last=Perwee|year=2020|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=43|issue=16 |pages=211–230|doi=10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688|s2cid=218843237 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

On March 16, 2016, Republican presidential candidate [[Ted Cruz]] announced he would name Frank Gaffney to be one of his National Security Advisors.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ted Cruz Names Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theorist As Top Foreign-Policy Adviser |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/cruz-names-anti-muslim-paranoic-as-top-adviser.html# |access-date=March 19, 2016 |work=New York Magazine |date=March 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318141854/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/cruz-names-anti-muslim-paranoic-as-top-adviser.html |archive-date=March 18, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cruz said that Gaffney "is a serious thinker who has been focused on fighting jidahists [sic], fighting jihadism across the globe".<ref>{{cite web |last=Krieg |first=Gregory |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/21/politics/ted-cruz-frank-gaffney-national-security/ |title=Ted Cruz defends foreign policy adviser Frank Gaffney – CNNPolitics.com |publisher=CNN |date=March 22, 2016 |access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818105905/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/21/politics/ted-cruz-frank-gaffney-national-security/ |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>  In December 2015, Nation Institute Fellow Eli Clifton characterized as unscientific a CSP-funded poll that Donald Trump had been citing, which purportedly showed widespread support for Sharia law among U.S. Muslims and a need for intervention in that community. It added that, "Between Trump’s calls for a national registry of Muslims and a ban on Muslim immigration, it appears that through coincidence or outright collaboration, Trump is building an immigration and anti-Muslim policy framework that closely mirrors the statements and proposals advocated by" Gaffney and the CSP.<ref name="Clifton"/>

Discussing what he calls prominent professional participants in Islamophobia, Professor Todd Green wrote mentioned "Frank Gaffney and David Yerushalmi, both of whom head organizations that are responsible for spreading misinformation about Islam and that seek to enact anti-Muslim laws, including the infamous anti-Sharia". [[David Yerushalmi]] served as legal counsel for the CSP<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-yerushalmi#.UalaAKVfmCI|title=David Yerushalmi|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|access-date=July 11, 2020|archive-date=July 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714071423/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-yerushalmi#.UalaAKVfmCI|url-status=live}}</ref> and has been accused of spreading misinformation about Islam and encouraging the enactment of anti-Muslim laws, including anti-[[Sharia Law|Sharia]] legislation in the United States.<ref name=Green>{{cite book|last1=Green|first1=Todd|title=The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West|date=2015|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=9781451469905|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrgFCAAAQBAJ&q=%22Frank%20Gaffney&pg=PT177|page=211|access-date=April 23, 2023}}</ref>

Gaffney and the CSP have been noted to have wielded influence on several prominent individuals of the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]].<ref name="vox"/><ref name="pertwee"/> Gaffney was himself hosted on [[Steve Bannon]]'s radio show at least thirty-four times during Bannon's time in ''[[Breitbart News]]'',<ref name="pertwee"/> and [[Michael Flynn]], [[Mike Pompeo]] and [[Jeff Sessions]] have all been described as "devotees" of Gaffney's ideas.<ref name="vox"/> Following [[John Bolton]]'s appointment as National Security Advisor, Gaffney was criticised as the source of where Bolton's beliefs originated on a number of subjects. This included the [[Iran nuclear deal]] and many anti-Islamic beliefs.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cortellessa|first1=Eric|title=Liberal Jewish groups slam Bolton for 'bellicose ideology, anti-Muslim bigotry'|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberal-jewish-groups-slam-bolton-for-bellicose-ideology-anti-muslim-bigotry/|newspaper=[[Times of Israel]]|date=March 29, 2018|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622005752/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberal-jewish-groups-slam-bolton-for-bellicose-ideology-anti-muslim-bigotry/|archive-date=June 22, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wadhams|first1=Nick|title=A Tillerson Ally Survives the Purge With Help From Friends|newspaper=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/a-tillerson-confidant-survives-the-purge-with-help-from-friends|agency=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]|date=March 15, 2018|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426075715/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/a-tillerson-confidant-survives-the-purge-with-help-from-friends|archive-date=April 26, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Nguyen|first1=Tina|title="Revenge of the Nationalists": The Pro-Trump World Dances on Tillerson's Grave|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/revenge-of-the-nationalists-the-pro-trump-world-dances-on-tillersons-grave|magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=March 15, 2018|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316025706/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/revenge-of-the-nationalists-the-pro-trump-world-dances-on-tillersons-grave|archive-date=March 16, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

He stepped down as president of the CSP in January 2023 in favor of Tommy Waller, but remains its executive chairman.<ref name="csp"/>

====Fax wars====
In the 1990s, Gaffney became known in Washington, D.C., for "fax wars" he waged, whereby his "small but loyal following" would be encouraged to inundate the offices of members of Congress with faxes.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hersman|first1=Rebecca|title=Friends and Foes: How Congress and the President Really Make Foreign Policy|date=2010|publisher=[[Brookings Institution]]|isbn=978-0815798965|pages=88–89}}</ref>

In 1995, Gaffney charged that [[US Secretary of Energy]] [[Hazel R. O'Leary]] was intentionally undermining US nuclear readiness; an analysis of Gaffney's charges against O'Leary published by [[William Arkin]] observed that Gaffney "specializes in intensely personal attacks" and his Center for Security Policy's liberal use of [[fax]]es to attack its opponents had made it the "[[Domino's Pizza]] of the policy business".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]|date=March 1995|volume=51|issue=2|page=80|doi=10.1080/00963402.1995.11658058|last1=Arkin|first1=William M.|title=A tale of two Franks |bibcode=1995BuAtS..51b..80A }}</ref>

Later, in a 1997 column for ''The Washington Times'', Gaffney alleged a [[seismic]] incident in Russia was a nuclear detonation at that nation's [[Novaya Zemlya]] test site, indicating Russia was violating the [[Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty]] (CTB).<ref name="bas">{{cite news|last1=Isaacs|first1=John|title=Spinning to the Right|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgwAAAAAMBAJ|access-date=July 22, 2016|work=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]|date=November 1997}}</ref>  Subsequent scientific analysis of Novaya Zemlya confirmed the event was a routine [[earthquake]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wallace|first1=Terry|title=False Accusations, Undetected Tests and Implications for the CTB Treaty|url=http://www.armscontrol.org/print/357|access-date=July 22, 2016|work=[[Arms Control Association]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523100845/https://www.armscontrol.org/print/357|archive-date=May 23, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Reporting on the allegation, the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'' observed that, following its publication, "fax machines around Washington, D.C., and across the country poured out pages detailing Russian duplicity. They came from Frank Gaffney", going on to note that during the first four months of 1997, Gaffney had "issued more than 25 screeds" against the CTB.<ref name="bas" />