Gaffney was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1953 to Virginia Gaffney (née Reed) and Frank J. Gaffney.[4][5] His father was aclassical musicaficionado and long-time partner at thelaw firm of Thorp, Reed & Armstrong, which was founded by his wife's father, Earl Reed; in 2013, it merged with Clark Hill PLC.[4][6][7] Gaffney's grandfather, Joseph Gaffney, was acity solicitor inPhiladelphia.[4] In the early 20th century, as a knownCatholic in Philadelphia, hefaced opposition fromnativistProtestant groups who alleged that Catholics were "gaining control of American institutions while rewriting the nation's history".[8]
In April 1987, Gaffney was nominated to the position ofAssistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.[12] 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-ongoingarms control talks with theSoviet Union. Gaffney was ultimately forced out ofthe Pentagon;The Washington Post reported in November 1987 that, within four days ofFrank Carlucci's appointment as Secretary of Defense, "Gaffney's belongings were boxed and he was gone".[14][15] Following his departure from government, he immediately set about criticizing Ronald Reagan's pursuit of an arms control agreement with the USSR.[14]
In 1988, Gaffney established the Center for Security Policy (CSP), aWashington, D.C.–basednational securitythink tank that has been widely described as engaging inconspiracy theorizing by a range of individuals, media outlets and organizations. Its activities are focused on exposing and researching perceivedjihadist threats to the United States. The Center has been described as "not very highly respected" byBBC News and "disreputable" bySalon. It has faced strong criticism from people across the political spectrum, but has also had its reports cited by political figures such as US PresidentDonald Trump and former CongresswomanMichele Bachmann.[16][17][18] In 2010 Gaffney became a trustee of the Center for Security Policy.[19] CSP has been described as an "extremist think tank" by the Center for New Community.[20] In 2016, the CSP was classified by theSouthern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a "hate group".[21] The SPLC describes Gaffney as "one of America’s most notoriousIslamophobes".[22] Gaffney and the CSP have also been described as influential parts of thecounter-jihad movement.[23][24]
On March 16, 2016, Republican presidential candidateTed Cruz announced he would name Frank Gaffney to be one of his National Security Advisors.[25] Cruz said that Gaffney "is a serious thinker who has been focused on fighting jidahists [sic], fighting jihadism across the globe".[26] In December 2015, Nation Institute Fellow Eli Clifton characterized as unscientific a CSP-funded poll that Donald Trump had been citing, which purportedly showed widespread support for Sharia law among U.S. Muslims and a need for intervention in that community. It added that, "Between Trump’s calls for a national registry of Muslims and a ban on Muslim immigration, it appears that through coincidence or outright collaboration, Trump is building an immigration and anti-Muslim policy framework that closely mirrors the statements and proposals advocated by" Gaffney and the CSP.[27]
Discussing what he calls prominent professional participants in Islamophobia, Professor Todd Green wrote mentioned "Frank Gaffney and David Yerushalmi, both of whom head organizations that are responsible for spreading misinformation about Islam and that seek to enact anti-Muslim laws, including the infamous anti-Sharia".David Yerushalmi served as legal counsel for the CSP[28] and has been accused of spreading misinformation about Islam and encouraging the enactment of anti-Muslim laws, including anti-Sharia legislation in the United States.[29]
Gaffney and the CSP have been noted to have wielded influence on several prominent individuals of theTrump administration.[23][24] Gaffney was himself hosted onSteve Bannon's radio show at least thirty-four times during Bannon's time inBreitbart News,[24] andMichael Flynn,Mike Pompeo andJeff Sessions have all been described as "devotees" of Gaffney's ideas.[23] FollowingJohn Bolton's appointment as National Security Advisor, Gaffney was criticised as the source of where Bolton's beliefs originated on a number of subjects. This included theIran nuclear deal and many anti-Islamic beliefs.[30][31][32]
He stepped down as president of the CSP in January 2023 in favor of Tommy Waller, but remains its executive chairman.[2]
In the 1990s, Gaffney became known in Washington, D.C., for "fax wars" he waged, whereby his "small but loyal following" would be encouraged to inundate the offices of members of Congress with faxes.[33]
In 1995, Gaffney charged thatUS Secretary of EnergyHazel R. O'Leary was intentionally undermining US nuclear readiness; an analysis of Gaffney's charges against O'Leary published byWilliam Arkin observed that Gaffney "specializes in intensely personal attacks" and his Center for Security Policy's liberal use offaxes to attack its opponents had made it the "Domino's Pizza of the policy business".[34]
Later, in a 1997 column forThe Washington Times, Gaffney alleged aseismic incident in Russia was a nuclear detonation at that nation'sNovaya Zemlya test site, indicating Russia was violating theComprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTB).[35] Subsequent scientific analysis of Novaya Zemlya confirmed the event was a routineearthquake.[36] Reporting on the allegation, theBulletin of the Atomic Scientists observed that, following its publication, "fax machines around Washington, D.C., and across the country poured out pages detailing Russian duplicity. They came from Frank Gaffney", going on to note that during the first four months of 1997, Gaffney had "issued more than 25 screeds" against the CTB.[35]
TheAnti-Defamation League has said that Gaffney "has promulgated a number of anti-Muslim conspiracy theories over the years" and that he has "undue influence" relative to other like-minded figures.[44] Other commentators have suggested that Gaffney's propensity for conspiracy theories began earlier during his career in the Reagan administration, where after being denied a higher position, was convinced thatSoviet agents within the United States government were blocking him.[45]
One of Gaffney's main conspiracy theories is the so-called "Civilization Jihad", a supposed secret Muslim plan to take over America, which came to national prominence by being cited in a debate by 2016 presidential candidateBen Carson.[46] According to theSPLC, Gaffney's beliefs stem "from a single discredited source – a 1991 fantasy written by a loneMuslim Brotherhood member that was introduced into evidence during the 2008Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas federal court."[47] The FBI found the note to be incongruous with documents taken from Muslim Brotherhood, nor was it found to have been discussed during the 1991 conference of the Muslim Brotherhood.[46]
But to Gaffney, this document was "asmoking gun, a mission statement pointing to a massive Islamist conspiracy under our noses".[47] The ADL quotes Gaffney as "mentioning that in 1991, aMuslim Brotherhood operative produced the "explanatory memorandum on the general strategic goal of the group in North America." According to Gaffney, the memo explicitly addresses the progress the Muslim Brotherhood has made in building aninfrastructure in the United States with the goal of destroying Western civilization from within so that Islam is victorious over other religions".[48][46]
The BRIDGE Initiative at Georgetown found that the memo failed to gain traction in the Arab world, as none of the sensationalist phrasings ever became commonplace in subsequent Arab literature and media.[46] In contrast, some politicians and Islamaphobic commentators have used the phrase repeatedly to demonize Muslims.[49][50]
In 2011, Gaffney was banned by theAmerican Conservative Union from theConservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). ACU chairmanDavid Keene released a statement contending that Gaffney "has become personally and tiresomely obsessed with his weird belief that anyone who doesn't agree with him on everything all the time or treat him with the respect and deference he believes is his due, must be either ignorant of the dangers we face or, in extreme case, dupes of the nation's enemies".[51] Gaffney has since returned to CPAC to host panels at the conference in 2015 and 2016.[48][52]
In an April 2016 column inThe Washington Times titled, "When conspiracy nuts do real damage", Keene again slammed Gaffney, writing, "One hopes that is what they will do and that Mr. Gaffney will, like the folks atGroup Research,Mr. Hoover's aides and most conspiracy nuts of yore will vanish into the fever swamps from which he came".[45] The column came two months after Gaffney unexpectedly leftThe Washington Times forBreitbart News, where he was a staff columnist and Keene was the opinion editor. Keene, who had slashed the frequency of Gaffney's column from weekly to monthly, commented toMedia Matters on Gaffney's departure, describing Gaffney's work as "well-researched," and stated, "we're sorry to lose him but we wish him well". Keene also noted that Gaffney had left without giving him any notice, saying, "I guess he's notifying us through you".[53]
Gaffney has been called a conspiracy theorist byDave Weigel writing inReason magazine;[54]Steve Benen ofMSNBC;[55]Slate;[56] andThe Intercept,[57][58][59] among others.The Washington Post has reported that Gaffney's views were "considered radioactive by the Republican establishment",[60] and Eli Clifton noted that Gaffney suffered "from a lack of mainstream acceptance."[27] Democrats, and many Republicans, have called Gaffney a "conspiracy theorist".[61]
Gaffney has asserted that the logo of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is a coded signal showing the "official U.S. submission to Islam."
The belief that the logo of the USMissile Defense Agency is a coded indicator of "official U.S. submission to Islam" because it "appears ominously to reflect a morphing of the Islamiccrescent and star with the Obama campaign logo".[62]
Gaffney has sought to have Republican Party strategistGrover Norquist excluded from CPAC because of his alleged ties to theMuslim Brotherhood. In 2011, Gaffney said of Norquist, "We are in a war, and he has been working with the enemy for over a decade."[65] Responding to the accusation, the board of directors of the American Conservative Union unanimously condemned Gaffney's charges as "reprehensible" and "unfounded."[66]
He has opposed the building of a number of large religiousMuslim sites in theUnited States, includingPark51, also referred to as the Ground Zero Mosque.[67]
The belief that theresponsibility-to-protect norm has been supported by the United States government to lay the groundwork for a forthcoming American military invasion ofIsrael.[73]
The belief that Muslim enemies of the United States are hidden in plain sight and organizing through mainstream Muslim rights organizations. He said of Muslims, “They essentially, like termites, hollow out the structure of the civil society and other institutions, for the purpose of creating conditions under which thejihad will succeed.”[74]
Gaffney, Frank J.; with colleagues (2005).War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World. Naval Institute Press.ISBN978-1-591-14301-7.
Gaffney, Jr., Frank J.; Luft, Gal; Zubrin, Robert; Clark, Wesley K.; Haigwood, Burl; Dolan, Greg (2010). Lerner, Ben; Reaboi, David (eds.).Homegrown Defense: Biofuels & National Security. Center for Security Policy Press.ISBN978-0-982-29474-1.
Gaffney, Jr., Frank J.; Lopez, Clare M. (2016).See No Sharia: 'Countering Violent Extremism' and the Disarming of America's First Line of Defense. Center for Security Policy Press.ISBN978-1530234332.
Gaffney, Frank; Laugesen, Dede (2023).The Indictment: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party & Friends for Crimes against America, China, and the World. War Room Books.ISBN978-1648210044.
