An official in the U.S. Department of State has been secretly working as a white nationalist organizer, according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch. This role, as reported by the SPLC, included attending the Charlottesville rally (where Heather Heyer was killed by neo-Nazi James Fields), posting Nazism on the internet, and even entertaining known Holocaust deniers and racists at his home and at dinners.
As stated in the report, the person in question is Matthew Q. Gebert, who allegedly uses the nomer “Coach Finstock” online. Gebert works as a foreign affairs officer in the Bureau of Energy Resources and has had this role since 2013, as confirmed by a State Department spokesperson for VICE News.
To be clear: This is more than just an issue of ethics, if true. It could be a violation of the Hatch Act. As a quick review, the Hatch Act prevents federal employees from engaging in political activity while they work—and can result in being removed from federal service. You might remember the Hatch Act coming up recently because of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.
Hatewatch estimates that Gebert began his involvement in white supremacy around 2015. Hatewatch reports that Gebert acknowledges the need to be secretive about his white nationalism.
“There are bigger things than a career and a paycheck, and I don’t want to lose mine,” Hatewatch reports that Gebert, under the “Coach Finstock” pseudonym, said on a podcast in August 2017.
The organization says he’s participated in white nationalism straight through spring 2019.
Let’s dig into some of the examples Hatewatch found. The organization tied various Twitter accounts to Gebert, all of which shared Nazi imagery (including swastikas) and anti-Semitic memes about Supreme Court Justice Ruther Bader Ginsburg. Another gem? Advocating for a whites-only nation.
Gebert allegedly went on a neo-Nazi podcast (horrifyingly called “Fatherland”) and bragged about being able to attend the Charlottesville rally without being identified. He reportedly wore a hat and sunglasses as part of his cover-up.
Hatewatch reports that he hosted the two hosts of the podcast “Fash the Nation” (get it?), who use the pseudonyms Michael Peinovich and Marcus Halberstram at his Virginia home. Hatewatch alleges that his wife, Anna Vuckovic, is also connected to the white nationalist movement; her codename for tweeting and blogging is reported as “Wolfie James.”
“[Whites] need a country of our own with nukes, and we will retake this thing lickety split,” Geert, again as “Coach Finstock,” said on a podcast in May 2018, as reported by Hatewatch. “That’s all that we need. We need a country founded for white people with a nuclear deterrent. And you watch how the world trembles.”