GAO : Covert Propaganda

(2) Self-aggrandizement:

As noted above, the broadest form of the publicity and propaganda restriction prohibits the use of appropriated funds "for publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by the Congress." A fiscal year 2003 governmentwide variation limits the restriction to activities "within the United States."[Footnote 331]...

In a 1973 [Nixon] case, B-178528, July 27, 1973, the Republican National Committee financed a mass mailing of copies of editorials from British newspapers in praise of the President. The editorials were transmitted with a letter prepared by a member of the White House staff, on State Department letterhead stationery, and signed by the Ambassador to Great Britain. GAO again noted the extreme difficulty in distinguishing between disseminating information to explain or defend administration policies, which is permissible, and similar activities designed for purely political or partisan purposes. (See also B-194776, June 4, 1979.) In addition, a legitimate function of a foreign legation is to communicate information on press reaction in the host country to policies of the United States. Thus, GAO was unable to conclude that there was any violation of the publicity and propaganda law...

Some agencies have authority to disseminate material that is promotional rather than purely informational. For example, the Commerce Department is charged with promoting commerce. In so doing, it entered into a contract with the Advertising Council to undertake a national multimedia campaign to enhance public understanding of the American economic system. Finding that this was a reasonable means of implementing its function and that the campaign did not "aggrandize" the Commerce Department, GAO found nothing illegal. B-184648, Dec. 3, 1975. [Ford]

If an agency does not have promotional authority, the scope of its permissible activities is correspondingly more restricted. For example, GAO found the publicity and propaganda law violated when a presidential advisory committee, whose sole function was to advise the President and which had no promotional role, set up and implemented a public affairs program that included the hiring of a "publicity expert." B-222758, June 25, 1986. [Reagan]

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