Leaked Documents Spark Debate Over Disbanded Global Engagement Center

In mid-2025, State Department undersecretary for public diplomacy Sarah Rogers gave internal Global Engagement Center (GEC) files to data analyst Jennica Pounds (“DataRepublican”). Pounds released them, claiming the GEC censored American speech. Rogers denied “entrapment” and later published the files, saying staff had “betrayed their stated mission.” The material includes a 2022 GEC report on gendered disinformation and excerpts of Kimmage’s congressional testimony.

The Guardian

Created in 2017, the GEC countered foreign propaganda from Russia, China and Iran. It produced eight public reports on Russian and Chinese operations and four major exposures of Kremlin-linked campaigns. In January 2024 the center helped broker an international pact on counter-disinformation with more than two dozen signatories.

The Guardian

The office cost roughly $61 million per year and employed about 120 staff before Congress let its authorization lapse at the end of 2024. The center was abolished in 2025, and remaining functions moved to a new counter-foreign-information office led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Guardian

• Annual budget: ~ $61 million.

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• Staff size before closure: ~ 120 employees.

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• Publications: eight reports on Russian and Chinese operations; four exposure projects.

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• Partnerships: funded the UK-based Global Disinformation Index, which later rated several U.S. conservative outlets as high-risk.

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• International reach: the 2024 pact secured signatories from more than two dozen governments.

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A State Department official said:

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> “Undersecretary Rogers has been clear that the department will continue to confront censorship, anti-American propaganda and coercive influence directly while demonstrating the enduring advantages of freedom, accountability and open communication.”

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Rogers rejected Pounds’s claim of entrapment, asserting the leak was intended to expose misrepresentations of the GEC’s work.

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Republican lawmakers, led by Michael McCaul, argued that the GEC’s funding of the Global Disinformation Index enabled a domestic “censorship” effort against outlets such as Newsmax, One America News and the New York Post. Their July 2024 letter warned that the center’s activities stretched the definition of disinformation to suppress right-wing speech, a charge that resurfaced after the 2025 dissolution.

The Guardian

Former principal deputy coordinator Daniel Kimmage and former acting deputy coordinator Carrie Goux say the leaked files contain no evidence of targeting U.S. audiences. Kimmage noted his congressional testimony was selectively quoted and that he answered “No” when asked whether the GEC took positions on U.S. outlets. Goux stressed the center’s focus on foreign actors. Both describe the censorship accusations as unfounded.

The Guardian

A Guardian-reviewed proposal outlines a multi-year, $11 million campaign to counter Chinese propaganda in Southeast Asia. The plan would pay up to 30 online influencers across 11 countries $2,500 each, fund a $5 million messaging effort, and allocate $3 million for training journalists and influencers. Managed by the U.S. Mission to USEAN, it cites Jennica Pounds as an exemplar recruit, prompting former staff to wonder whether the State Department is attempting to “re-create” the GEC’s functions.

The Guardian

The leaked documents do not contain direct evidence of domestic censorship, a point emphasized by Kimmage and Goux. Republican critics continue to cite the GDI’s 2022 study that labeled several conservative U.S. outlets as high-risk, interpreting it as proof of the GEC’s involvement in domestic media monitoring. The discrepancy between the absence of explicit domestic-targeting files and the political narrative of censorship remains unresolved.

The Guardian