Government Media Official, Author of ‘Vying for Allah’s Vote,’ Pleads Guilty to Theft of Taxpayer Money 

A Conservative Base source claims that a disgraced senior government official at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), 41-year-old Haroon K. Ullah, admitted that he fraudulently obtained $40,000 in government funds by falsifying hotel bills, faking taxi receipts and by billing Uncle Sam for personal travel.

“Additionally, Ullah admitted that he created a falsified letter from a real medical doctor purportedly claiming that Ullah needed to fly in business class at government expense because of a sore knee,” according to a Justice Department statement.

“By submitting the forged letter from the doctor, Ullah fraudulently obtained costly business class upgrades at government expense, including on lengthy international flights. Ullah admitted to creating many of the false documents on his government-issued laptop computer,” said the DOJ prosecutors.

Ullah, who is described by Democrats as an educator, scholar and diplomat, was handpicked by USAGM Chief John F. Lansing in 2017 to be the agency’s chief strategic officer. The author of a book called “Vying for Allah’s Vote,” Ullah oversaw several divisions at USAGM and was the key liaison charged with positioning the media networks within the broader U.S. government.

As Lansing’s top assistant, “Ullah’s main responsibility was to lead USAGM to become a more strategically relevant agency within the national security, foreign affairs, internet censorship and global media spheres,” according to his biography on the agency’s website. Prior to being recruited by Lansing, Ullah, a Harvard graduate, worked at the State Department. He recently pleaded guilty to theft of government money and faces up to a decade in prison, though it is unlikely he’ll serve that much time. Ullah is scheduled to be sentenced in October.

The senior USAGM official’s crimes were the latest to take place during the Obama-years. It is also proof of waste and corruption for the taxpayer-funded media conglomerate which is comprised of five international networks—Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting.

The media outlets get about $685 million a year from American taxpayers and reportedly reach 345 million people worldwide in 59 languages. The global media agency was created to counter disinformation spread by oppressive regimes abroad. The USAGM website states that its mission is “to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.”

Under Lansing’s tenure USAGM has deviated from that mission repeatedly, making it difficult to understand why the Trump administration has not replaced him. Earlier this year Lansing utilized Stalinist Techniques to retaliate against journalists behind a broadcast critical of left-wing billionaire George Soros. The Spanish-language segment aired in May 2018 on Television Martí and was available for months online. A scandal-plagued Democratic senator tried for bribery and corruption eventually heard about it and ordered Lansing to punish the employees responsible for the Soros broadcast.

The USAGM Soros broadcast accurately focused on his efforts to cripple sovereign governments in Latin America. Judicial Watch was cited as a source because it investigated State Department funding of Soros groups in Colombia and published a report on Soros’ initiatives to advance a radical globalist agenda in Guatemala.

According to the Haroon book’s biography: “Prior to joining BBG, Haroon advised three secretaries of state, traveled with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke’s Afghanistan/Pakistan team, and started the first-ever public diplomacy countering violent extremism office at any American Embassy (US Embassy Islamabad). He teaches at Georgetown University and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as senior Harvard University Belfer Fellow, where he completed his graduate coursework at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School. Ullah has a MA and Ph.D. in international political economy, and was a William J. Fulbright Fellow, a Harvard University Presidential Scholar, and a Woodrow Wilson Public Service Fellow. His award-winning books include “Vying for Allah’s Vote” (Georgetown University Press), “The Bargain from the Bazaar” (Public Affairs Books), and the new “Digital World War” (Yale University Press), which has been featured on Diane Sawyer (ABC 20/20), CNN News Day with Chris Cuomo, CBS news and focuses on the new ‘information battlefield’ and uses for technology, transmedia, and digital content.”