Trump's hand-picked conspiracy theorist still sitting on Holocaust commission

When President Joe Biden came into office, he moved to fire a series of Donald Trump's appointees to various boards, but not far-right conspiracy theorist Darren Beattie.

According to Business Insider, Beattie, who was appointed after Trump lost his election, serves on the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. The main role of the commission is memorializing Holocaust victims.

He made the mistake recently of promoting conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Claiming that it was an inside job from the FBI, Beattie's conspiracy theory at the right-wing site Revolver News was then praised by the former president in a release from his office. That theory was most recently used by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who berated FBI officials Tuesday, demanding to know if an FBI informant was at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The release about Beattie then prompted questions of whether Beattie was still serving on the Preservation Commission.

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The term is slated to end Feb. 27, but he can continue to serve if he wants. His name was removed from the website of those on the board, the report noted.

"Since Beattie's appointment to the Commission in November 2020, he has continued to spread outrageous and deeply harmful falsehoods and misinformation, including about the January 6 insurrection, that are at odds with serving in such positions of official responsibility," said Anti-Defamation League spokesman Jake Hyman.

"We retain our view that Beattie, who once attended an event with white supremacists and participated in a panel discussion with white nationalist Peter Brimelow, should have no place on a commission that plays a special role preserving Jewish heritage sites from before the Holocaust," Hyman also said.

Beattie lists himself as a former White House official on his Twitter account with no mention of his existing post on the Preservation Commission.

Read the full report at Business Insider.