Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist and the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy. In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked for the federal government in multiple posts, including seven months as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan administration.
Early life
Gaffney was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1953 to Virginia Gaffney (née Reed) and Frank J. Gaffney. His father was a classical music aficionado and long-time partner at the law firm of Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, which was founded by his wife's father, Earl Reed. (It merged in 2013 with Clark Hill PLC.) Gaffney's grandfather, Joseph Gaffney, was a city solicitor of Philadelphia. In the early twentieth century in that city, as a known Catholic, he faced opposition from nativist Protestant groups in the city alleged that Catholics were "gaining control of American institutions while rewriting the nation's history".
In 1975, Gaffney graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service. He received a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in 1978.
Career
Gaffney began his government career in the 1970s, working as an aide in the office of Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson, under Richard Perle. From August 1983 until November 1987, Gaffney held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy in the Reagan Administration, again serving under Perle.
In April 1987, Gaffney was nominated to the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. He served as the acting Assistant Secretary for seven months. During this time, despite his official post, he was excluded by senior Reagan administration officials from the then-ongoing arms control talks with the Soviet Union. Gaffney was ultimately forced out of the Pentagon; The Washington Post observed at the time that within four days of Frank Carlucci's appointment as Secretary of Defense, "Gaffney's belongings were boxed and he was gone". Following his departure from government, he immediately set about criticizing Ronald Reagan's pursuit of an arms control agreement with the USSR.
Gaffney contributes to the conservative media site Newsmax. Gaffney wrote a column for The Washington Times from 2012 to 2016, and for Jewish World Review from 2000 to 2013. He is also the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program and podcast which has featured guests such as Newt Gingrich, John R. Bolton, and white nationalist Jared Taylor. Gaffney is the vice-chair of the Committee on the Present Danger and has been described as part of a "new red scare" of anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States.
On December 12, 2020, at the far-right, pro-Trump Jericho March, Gaffney announced he was launching a new political party called the Great America Party (GAP). The GAP, Gaffney, and the Jericho March all claim, without evidence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.
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 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. 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. CSP has been described as an "extremist think tank" by the Center for New Community. In 2016, the CSP was classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a hate group. The SPLC describes Gaffney as "one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes". Gaffney and the CSP have also been described as part of the counter-jihad movement.
In 2010 Gaffney became a trustee of the Center for Security Policy.