Pentagon Propaganda Contractor Caught Targeting American Journalists
In May 2012, the co-owner of Leonie Industries — a Pentagon propaganda contractor that had received at least $120 million in Defense Department contracts since 2009 — publicly admitted to orchestrating an online campaign designed to discredit two journalists who had been investigating the company. The admission raised serious questions about whether military information operations capabilities were being turned against American citizens and the domestic press.
Camille Chidiac Admits Creating Fake Websites
Camille Chidiac, the minority owner of Leonie Industries and its former president, acknowledged through his attorney Lin Wood of Atlanta that he was responsible for creating websites, discussion forums, and social media accounts aimed at undermining the credibility of USA TODAY Pentagon reporter Tom Vanden Brook and his editor Ray Locker.
In a prepared statement, Chidiac said he took “full responsibility” for opening discussion forums and republishing previously published articles on them. He claimed he acted independently of both Leonie Industries and the Pentagon, using only personal funds and proxy services to hide his involvement. He stated that he recognized and “deeply regretted” that his actions had caused concerns for the company and the U.S. military.
Chidiac had stepped down as president of Leonie in 2008 but continued to represent the company at various conferences in what Leonie described as an “informal and unofficial” capacity.
The Anatomy of a Reputation Attack
The campaign against the journalists had been methodical. Before USA TODAY even published its investigation into Pentagon information operations spending, someone registered the domain tomvandenbrook.com. Twitter and Facebook accounts were created in the reporter’s name. A Wikipedia entry was established, and discussion group postings were crafted to misrepresent Vanden Brook’s earlier reporting on the West Virginia Sago Mine disaster.
Chidiac claimed the websites were clearly labeled as “fan sites,” but acknowledged that comments on them “quickly degenerated from legitimate criticism to immature and irrelevant rhetoric by unknown users.” His attorney stated that the Twitter and Wikipedia entries were created by a separate, unnamed individual with “absolutely no relationship or connection with Leonie Industries.”
Online reputation expert Andy Beal examined the effort and concluded it appeared to be coordinated, describing it as a “sophisticated reputation attack.”
Leonie Industries: $120 Million in Pentagon Contracts
Leonie Industries was founded by Chidiac and his sister, Rema DuPont, who owned 51 percent of the company to Chidiac’s 49 percent. The firm had been a major beneficiary of the Pentagon’s information operations program, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan — a program that was drawing criticism even from within the Defense Department for poor oversight and monitoring.
The siblings had also accumulated $4 million in liens for unpaid federal income taxes, though federal records indicated those liens were subsequently paid off. Chidiac told his attorney that he was “personally offended” by the newspaper’s reporting on his tax troubles, which he felt had been unfairly characterized.
Following the admission, Chidiac announced he was divesting his remaining 49 percent ownership stake. Leonie’s director of marketing and communications, Gar Smith, stated that Chidiac did not have access to the company’s bank accounts or financial resources derived from government contracts.
Pentagon Response and Congressional Scrutiny
The Pentagon’s response was swift and pointed. Press secretary George Little said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was aware of the disclosure and had “directed the department to review this matter and to take appropriate action.” Little added that smear campaigns “online or anywhere else” were intolerable and that the Pentagon rejected such behavior.
The broader investigation was already underway. In March 2012, the Pentagon’s inspector general had informed Congress that the Defense Criminal Investigative Service had launched a probe into issues raised by USA TODAY’s reporting on information operations spending. A House committee subsequently voted to cut the Pentagon’s information operations budget by one-third.
Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia, a Democrat and vocal critic of the information operations program, called for congressional hearings. “Now we know the truth about these online smear campaigns,” he said. “There must be zero tolerance for attacks on the press.”
The Legal Question: Domestic Propaganda and Federal Law
The episode raised a fundamental legal concern. Federal law prohibits the Defense Department from spending money for “propaganda purposes within the United States.” While Leonie and Chidiac both maintained that no federal funds were used in the campaign against the journalists, the case highlighted how easily the skills, techniques, and mindset developed for overseas propaganda operations could be redirected toward domestic targets.
The information operations industry that the Pentagon had built and funded — designed to influence foreign populations in conflict zones — had produced contractors with sophisticated capabilities in online manipulation, reputation management, and narrative control. When a co-owner of one such contractor turned those capabilities against American journalists investigating the industry itself, the incident served as a concrete example of the risks inherent in outsourcing propaganda to private firms with minimal oversight.
USA TODAY’s executive editor Susan Weiss stated the newspaper would continue reporting on the information operations industry, adding: “We stand behind our reporters and our stories.”
