A State Department official was outed for his alleged involvement with white nationalist forums and for allegedly being part of a white nationalist group in Washington, researchers from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Hatewatch” program revealed Wednesday.
Matthew Q. Gebert allegedly used the pseudonym “Coach Finstock” on white nationalist forums and hosted parties at his Virginia home for like-minded individuals, according to Hatewatch. The report says that Hatewatch connected “Coach Finstock” with Gebert after sourcing several Twitter accounts operated with some form of that handle to Gebert, as well as by playing samples of his voice from appearances as “Coach Finstock” on white nationalist podcasts such as “The Fatherland” to people who know him.
Hatewatch also spoke with three sources who said Gebert helped lead a Washington D.C.-area chapter of The Right Stuff, a network founded by neo-Nazi blogger Michael Peinovich, aka Mike Enoch.
“[Whites] need a country of our own with nukes, and we will retake this thing lickety split,” “Coach Finstock” said on a May 2018 episode of “The Fatherland,” a white nationalist podcast, Hatewatch revealed. “That’s all that we need. We need a country founded for white people with a nuclear deterrent. And you watch how the world trembles.”
Gebert, 38, works as a foreign affairs officer assigned to the Bureau of Energy Resources, which is a civil servant position, not a political appointment, a State Department spokesperson said. “The Department of State cannot comment on personnel issues but is committed to providing an inclusive workplace,” the spokesperson said.
His wife, 38-year-old Anna Vuckovic, was identified by four separate Hatewatch sources as going by the handle “Wolfie James” on Twitter, a profile that has been connected to the white nationalist movement, Hatewatch reported. Vuckovic denied the allegations when reached by Hatewatch. NBC News was unable to contact Vuckovic for comment. Vuckovic, as “Wolfie James”, allegedly wrote blog posts with dating tips and parenting advice for white nationalist women and moms on The Right Stuff, according to Hatewatch who said it retrieved some of the posts through internet archives.
NBC News reached out to Gebert via email, as no phone number is listed for his home in Leesburg, Virginia. He did not respond.
Gebert, who graduated from George Washington University in 2011, joined the State Department two years later as a Presidential Management Fellow, according to Hatewatch and an alumni news update in GW Magazine, which is published by the university. The aim of the prestigious PMF program is to “develop a cadre of potential government leaders,” according to the State Department.
In July 2018, the Sludge website reported Gebert donated $200 in January of that year to then Wisconsin Republican congressional candidate Paul Nehlen, who was criticized for voicing anti-Semitic views on Twitter. The donation is public record and searchable on the Federal Election Commission website.
State Department employees are restricted from taking part in some political activities while working for the federal government by the Hatch Act. And while it’s not clear if Gebert crossed that line, it appears he was aware he was risking his career by embracing white nationalism, according to the Hatewatch report.
“There are bigger things than a career and a paycheck, and I don’t want to lose mine,” Gebert said on an episode of “The Fatherland” recorded in August 2017, according to Hatewatch. “I am prepared to lose mine. Because this is the most important thing to me in my life … in tandem with my family, of course.”
