Trump's new national security adviser John Bolton chaired an anti-Muslim group promoted by Russian trolls

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Trump's new national security adviser John Bolton chaired an anti-Muslim group promoted by Russian trolls

National security adviser John Bolton

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

National security adviser John Bolton

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  • John Bolton, President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, chaired an anti-Muslim think tank that promotes false, misleading, and discriminatory news, NBC News reported Monday.
  • Gatestone Institute has published articles describing an "army" of "jihadists" taking over Europe, the "Great White Death" of "native" Europeans, and mass rape perpetrated by immigrants and refugees.
  • Bolton has also supported the work of Pamela Geller, a well-known anti-Muslim activist who has long promoted conspiracy theories about Islam.

John Bolton, President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, chaired an anti-Muslim think tank that promotes false, misleading, and discriminatory news - and has been promoted by Russian troll factories, NBC reported Monday.

The New York-based non-profit group, Gatestone Institute, regularly publishes articles promoting unsubstantiated claims concerning an "army" of "jihadists" taking over Europe, the "Great White Death" of "native" Europeans, and mass rape perpetrated by immigrants and refugees.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the civil rights and advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations, told NBC that Gatestone is "a key part of the whole Islamaphobic cottage industry on the internet." The Intercept first reported on Bolton's ties to Gatestone.

Gatestone's work has been promoted and spread by Russian troll factories, according to NBC, and many of the group's authors have appeared on Russian state-funded media, including Sputnik and RT News.

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Bolton chaired the group from 2013 until last month and has published numerous articles on Gatestone's website concerning Iran and North Korea, among other topics. While his pieces are not among the site's blatantly anti-Muslim writings, Bolton has been tied to anti-Islamic thinking and wrote the forward to a book by Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim activist who famously campaigned against the construction of a Islamic community center near the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan.

Gatestone, which describes itself as nonpartisan, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in backing from conservative benefactors Robert and Rebekah Mercer, the Trump donors behind right-wing Breitbart News. The Mercers are also big supporters of Bolton's personal super PAC, donating $2 million in 2015 and $1 million in 2016.

Trump brought Bolton on as his third national security adviser in early April, replacing H.R. McMaster, and his super PAC and ties to Gatestone are likely subjects of an ongoing review of his potential conflicts of interest.

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