State Department Official Oversaw D.C. Chapter of White-Nationalist Group: Report
State Department Official Oversaw D.C. Chapter of White-Nationalist Group: Report
Marianne Dodson
Published 08.07.19 1:03PM ET
Larry Downing/Reuters
An official with the U.S. State Department oversaw a chapter of a white-nationalist organization in Washington, D.C., hosted white nationalists at his home, and published white nationalist propaganda online under a pseudonym, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Foreign affairs officer Matthew Q. Gebert, who works in the Bureau of Energy Resources, has been using the alias “Coach Finstock” to cover himself while he shares his racist views, the report says. Gebert has gone on multiple podcasts with this pseudonym, allowing him to say things like “I consider myself a white nationalist” while maintaining a degree of anonymity. “[Whites] need a country of our own with nukes, and we will retake this thing lickety split,” Gebert, under the guise of “Coach Finstock,” said in a May 2018 podcast.
SPLC found posts by Gebert suggesting he became involved in the alt-right movement beginning in 2015 and acknowledged potential ramifications it could have on his career. “There are bigger things than a career and a paycheck, and I don’t want to lose mine,” Gebert said as “Coach Finstock” on a podcast in August 2017. Gebert joined the department in 2013. Sources also told SPLC that Gebert’s wife is connected to the white-nationalist movement, saying she uses the alias “Wolfie James” to post online.
The fact that they say he won’t be fired shows he’s being protected.
