Obama Opened the Floodgates for Domestic Propaganda—Mike Benz Drops Truth Bomb on Rogan [WATCH]

During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, investigative researcher Mike Benz detailed how the Smith-Mundt Act, originally passed in 1948, was designed to prevent the U.S. government from using propaganda on its own citizens.

However, he explained that the repeal of this restriction under former President Barack Obama has now allowed domestic influence operations to take place under the guise of foreign policy efforts.

Benz began the discussion by asking Rogan, “Are you familiar with the Smith-Mundt Act?”

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Rogan responded, “Is that the 2011-2012 thing where Obama allowed people to use propaganda against United States citizens?”

Benz confirmed, explaining that “Yeah, that was what was done then, under Obama, was the effective repeal of it. It was called the Smith Modernization Act. But the modernization got rid of the whole purpose of it, the firewall.”

He described how, after World War II, the U.S. transitioned from military occupations to influencing foreign governments through media and information campaigns.

“Because everything moved after World War Two, from kinetic warfare and military occupation… That was banned under international law—territorial acquisition by military force in 1948—so we had to win elections and we had to influence the passage of laws in foreign countries by having an apparatus inside those countries that influenced the hearts and minds of people, which influenced who they voted for, which then determined the government. So you had to move towards political vassalage, rather than military occupation,” Benz said.

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Congress, he explained, was aware of the risks involved in creating such a covert influence operation.

“What the Smith-Mundt Act did is, simultaneous with the creation of this in 1948, Congress recognized the Frankensteinian monster they were creating by authorizing a covert, permanent department of dirty tricks,” he said, clarifying that the phrase “dirty tricks” was used by Congress at the time.

Benz also discussed Frank Wisner, one of the CIA’s early architects, who developed an international media manipulation strategy known as the “Wizards of Wurlitzer.”

“There was a guy named Frank Wisner, who was known as one of the Godfather figures of the CIA. He’s known for creating what was called the Wizards of Wurlitzer, which was… like a church organ, and that he would brag that he could play the international media like a symphony to make any media narrative go viral in any country on earth because of the suite of CIA proprietary media functions and its distribution network,” Benz explained.

This strategy allowed the U.S. to control narratives in foreign countries using its dominance in print, radio, film, and television. However, Benz noted that there was a strict prohibition on turning these tactics inward.

“Smith-Mundt was said, ‘Okay, you can do that abroad… But that can’t come home. You can’t hit our own people with your propaganda organ abroad,’” he stated.

Benz warned that the repeal of Smith-Mundt’s protections under Obama opened the door for these tactics to be used domestically, and that agencies like USAID are now funding influence operations that have real consequences for American politics.

“Even that protection, which lasted for 70 years, we only lost it a decade ago. We’re up against a much, actually deeper, darker problem with this USAID scandal, and as people will see increasingly, the scandals that will break open at the Pentagon and the State Department,” Benz cautioned.

He explained that U.S. foreign policy entities can now “fund groups that effectively work with prosecutors domestically, or that work at media… dual sort of dual use. We give them foreign grants to do media propaganda abroad, but they operate here.”

Benz also pointed to social media censorship as part of this operation, describing how foreign governments are encouraged to pass laws that suppress free speech, particularly targeting American companies and online discourse.

“We give them foreign grants to do media propaganda abroad, but they operate here or [engage in] social media censorship to coerce foreign countries to pass foreign censorship laws that explicitly and are intended to attack US social media companies and US peer-to-peer speech,” he said.

Benz concluded by emphasizing the urgent need to reinstate strict legal barriers to prevent the government from using propaganda against its own citizens.

“We need that protection. If we’re going to keep this function at all, we need a hard firewall and absolute grotesque penalties for any violation,” he asserted.

Elon Musk responds:

Restore the Smith-Mundt act! https://t.co/7M60CXZdp3

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2025

His comments highlight growing concerns about government influence operations and the extent to which they may be shaping media narratives and public opinion within the United States.

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