Larry Downing/Reuters
Prominent anti-Muslim activist and conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney on Wednesday denied reports that he was involved in President-elect Donald Trump’s transition efforts. Gaffney heads up the Center for Security Policy, an Islamophobic think tank that has floated various theories about President Obama’s citizenship and has repeatedly accused Obama administration officials of being secret agents of the Muslim Brotherhood. On Tuesday evening the Wall Street Journal reported, via unnamed sources, that Gaffney had been brought onto the Trump team to advise on security policy, but the following afternoon, he issued a statement to reporter Eli Lake, denying having ever been contacted for such a role: “An unattributed quote appeared in the press yesterday indicating I had been appointed to the Trump transition. In fact, I had not been contacted by anyone from the team.” He added that he looks “forward to helping the president-elect and the national security-minded team he is assembling in whatever way I can.”