The commission planning official celebrations for the United States’ 250th birthday said Tuesday that it had fired its executive director — an ally of President Donald Trump’s — for “serious and repeated breaches of authority and trust.”—
The U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, whose members include both Republican and Democratic members of Congress as well as current Cabinet members, business leaders and others, said in a statement that the official, Ari Abergel, had “initiated a security breach of a commission social media account,” tried to coerce members to resign under false pretenses and defied orders from the commission’s leaders. The statement said that Abergel had jeopardized the commission’s “operations and reputation.”
His firing was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.
A former Fox News producer and veteran of Trump’s first White House, Abergel was hired by the commission this spring on Trump’s recommendation.
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In a statement Tuesday, Abergel said he had been suspended just hours after posting a tribute to Charlie Kirk on the commission’s official Instagram account. The post, written the day after Kirk was killed, showed a picture of the conservative activist with the caption: “America is in mourning. God bless Charlie Kirk.” The post remained online as of Tuesday afternoon.
Abergel called the allegations of misconduct “malicious lies,” and criticized the commission’s chair, Rosie Rios, who was appointed by President Joe Biden after serving as a top Treasury official in the Obama administration. In his statement, Abergel called Rios a “left-wing activist who clearly hates President Trump and those of us who support him.”
The commission disputed Abergel’s assertions. According to a spokesperson, the problem was not the content of the Instagram post, but rather that Abergel had used the commission’s Instagram account at all. He had defied an order weeks before to give control of the commission’s social-media accounts to another employee, the spokesperson said.
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The commission would soon choose a new executive director in consultation with the White House, the spokesperson added.
Abergel’s firing was a clear sign of the tension and confusion surrounding the anniversary celebrations. The commission has planned a series of nonpartisan events — including a children’s art contest and a volunteerism effort — that would culminate next July 4 with a celebration on the National Mall.
But Trump has established a separate White House effort to plan its own events — including civics lessons with conservative groups and potentially mixed martial-arts fights on the White House grounds. That has led to concerns that the nation’s 250th birthday could become something narrower than originally intended: a celebration of Trump and his movement.
The White House issued a statement saying, “The administration is incredibly proud of all of Ari Abergel’s work.”
Trump appears to have little power over the makeup of the commission itself. Under the terms of the 2016 law that founded the group, congressional leaders appoint its members. Trump’s sole power under that law is to determine which of the commission’s members serves as its chair.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.