Clare M. Lopez
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Clare M. Lopez (born 1953) is an American former
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
(CIA) officer who has served as Vice President for Research and Analysis at the
Center for Security Policy The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.–based think tank. The founder and former president of the organization is Frank J. Gaffney Jr., who now serves as the group's executive chairman. The c ...
. She has been described as an
anti-Muslim Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...
conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
by ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' and other media outlets.


Career

Lopez received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in communications and French from
Notre Dame College Notre Dame College (Notre Dame College of Ohio or NDC) was a private Roman Catholic college in South Euclid, Ohio. Established in 1922 by the Sisters of Notre Dame as a women's college, it was coeducational from January 2001 until its closure ...
, and a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in international relations from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, before completing Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. She then declined a military commission to instead join the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a career operations officer, and has gained deep experience in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. During her service she acquired "extensive expertise in counterintelligence, counternarcotics, and counterproliferation issues with a career regional focus on the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans," and "has served in or visited over two dozen nations worldwide, ndspeaks several languages, including Spanish, Bulgarian, French, German, and Russian." Lopez worked for the CIA for two decades before later joining
Frank Gaffney Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American defense policy analyst and founder of the Center for Security Policy (CSP). He founded the CSP in 1988, serving as its president until 2023, and thereafter as executive chairman. In the 1 ...
's Center for Security Policy (CSP), where she became Vice President for Research and Analysis from 2014 to 2020. In the CSP she described her work as "project manager" in the " counterjihad movement". Lopez has also been vice president of the Intelligence Summit, a senior fellow at the
Clarion Project The Clarion Project (formerly Clarion Fund Inc.) is an American nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was founded in 2006. The organization has been involved in the production and distribution of the films '' Obsession: Radical I ...
, co-founder of the Iran Policy Committee, professor at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, Senior Scientific Researcher at the
Battelle Memorial Institute Battelle Memorial Institute (or simply Battelle) is an American private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. History The institute was founded in 1929 by Gordon Battelle. Originall ...
, a Senior Intelligence Analyst, Subject Matter Expert, and previously produced Technical Threat Assessments for U.S. Embassies at the Department of State.


Views and activities

Lopez has published papers for the Gatestone Institute and the CSP, and given interviews and presentations claiming that the
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
, which she considers to be a terrorist organization, has "infiltrated the United States government, and that
Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...
is taking hold in American courts." According to
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
's Bridge Initiative, she "believes President
Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...
and his administration have a 'pattern' of 'enabling' or directly supporting Muslim terrorist groups," and "claims that Obama and
Huma Abedin Huma Mahmood Abedin (born July 28, 1975) is an American political staffer who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for President of the United States. Before that, Abedin was deputy chief of staff to Clinton when she was U.S. Secre ...
, an aide of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood." She has said that because Obama's father was Muslim, that "de facto makes him
bama Bama or BAMA may refer to: Places * Bama, shortened form of Alabama, a state of the United States of America ** The University of Alabama, a public university serving the state, often known as simply ''Bama'' * Bama, one of the colloquial Burmes ...
a Muslim," and that the "Obama administration very clearly has switched sides in the war on terror." Furthermore, she asserts that the Muslim Brotherhood has an "unholy alliance" with the
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
movement, that 80% of American mosques promote extremism, and that there are Muslim no-go zones in
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
. Lopez appeared in the documentaries '' The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America'' in 2008, and '' Iranium'' in 2011. She was a co-author of the CSP's Team B II report '' Shariah: The Threat To America'' in 2010, and has written for the news websites ''
Breitbart News ''Breitbart News Network'' (; known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentar ...
'' and ''
WorldNetDaily WND (formerly WorldNetDaily) is an Radical right (United States), American far-right news and opinion website. It is known for promoting fake news and conspiracy theories, including the false claim that former President Barack Obama Barack Obama ...
''. In 2015, she was profiled as one of the twelve most "hardline anti-Muslim women activists" in America by the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
. She was an advisor to the
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...
for national security in 2016, and was later reportedly being considered for deputy national security advisor to President-elect
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. According to a Trump adviser, Lopez was considered "one of the intellectual thought leaders about why we have to fight back against radical Islam." Trump also cited her work to support his proposed Muslim immigration ban.


Bibliography

* * * * *


References


External links


Biography
at Pundicity * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Clare M. 1953 births Living people 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American conspiracy theorists American counter-jihad activists American women non-fiction writers Breitbart News people Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni Notre Dame College (Ohio) alumni People of the Central Intelligence Agency WorldNetDaily people