Anthony Tata

Anthony “Tony” Tata is a former Brigadier General and conspiracy theorist whom Trump installed in key roles in the U.S. Department of Defense during the 2020 election year. After Tata’s confirmation to a key position leading Pentagon policy was blocked by the Senate, Trump gave Tata a leadership post with the same responsibilities, a maneuver that Senator Jack Reed, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called “an offensive, destabilizing move…” Adam Smith, then-Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said the move by Trump “prioritize[d] loyalty over competence.” Tata is a contributor to Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership.

In April of 2020, Trump nominated Tata to be the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Scrutiny of that nomination revealed that Tata had peddled vile conspiracy theories, including claiming that former CIA Director John Brennan had sent a coded Tweet ordering the assassination of Trump in 2018. On Twitter, Tata accused Brennan of treason and told him to “pick your poison: firing squad, public hanging, life sentence as a prison b*tch, or just suck on your pistol. Your call.” Tata had also claimed a “deep state cabal” was undermining Trump, called Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) a “vicious race-baiting racist,” called Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a “violent extremist,” and insinuated that then-CNN anchor Don Lemon was acting like a slave on “the liberal plantation.” Tata peddled Islamophobia, accused President Barack Obama of being “borderline treasonous” during the 2016 transition, called Mr. Obama a “terrorist leader,” and claimed the 2013 nuclear agreement with Iran was born out of Obama’s “Islamic roots” in order to “help Iranians and the greater Islamic State crush Israel.”

After these and other claims became an obstacle to his confirmation, Tata sent an apology letter to the Senate claiming such comments “while grievous, are not indicative of who I am.” However, since Trump’s term ended, Tata has used his Fox and Newsmax platforms to level more barbed broadsides, such as claiming Biden’s “craven, breathtaking drive for political power [is what] is driving U.S. foreign policy,” and asserting that “utter incompetence of [his] Administration has brought us to the brink of a global war.” Tata had also been let go less than two years after being named a School Superintendent due to his “leadership style,” and an IG investigation into his adulteries found that Tata and his lawyer provided it with a forged court order, which they denied creating, about his child support. In light of the controversies, in August, Sen. Reed announced “there were too many questions and concerns on both sides of the aisle to move forward.”

After withdrawing the nomination, Trump then circumvented the Senate by designating Tata “the official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy” reporting to Under Secretary James Anderson. Sen. Reed called Tata’s installation “an insult to our troops, professionals at the Pentagon, the Senate, and the American people.” Former House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Adam Smith said “if an appointee cannot gain the support of the Senate… then the President should not put that person into an identical, temporary role.”

Tata remained in that role until Anderson resigned after Trump tweeted that he had fired Mike Esper shortly after election day in 2020. Trump named Chris Miller Acting Secretary of Defense and made Kash Patel Miller’s Chief of Staff. Esper had rebuffed Trump’s desire to deploy military force in a law enforcement role against civilians protesting George Floyd’s murder, along with other disagreements. Along with Miller, Trump made Tata the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the very position to which the Senate had refused to confirm him.

Accordingly, Tata was a senior official at the Pentagon during the violent January 6th insurrection, when the Pentagon repeatedly denied approvals sought by Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) and others to order the National Guard to protect the U.S. Capitol and Members of Congress (including Vice President and constitutional President of the Senate Mike Pence,) until hours into the attack.

Tata served as Under Secretary until Trump’s term concluded on January 20, but on January 19, Trump appointed Tata and other loyalists to a variety of boards, to give them positions during the Biden administration. Tata was appointed to Board of Visitors of the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Tata, a West Point graduate who served as a decorated officer in the Army for 28 years until retiring after the IG investigated his extramarital affairs, now acts as a consultant, director, or advisor for at least eight separate companies–from investment banks and crypto mining firms to technologies companies with defense. He also continues to be a commentator for FOX and Newsmax and to write fictional military thrillers through his publishing contract with St. Martin’s Press.

His consulting firm, called the Tata Leadership Group, is located in North Palm Beach, a short distance from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Tata is also a contributor of Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.