Hatewatch, a blog run by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has concluded that a State Department official was responsible for publishing white nationalist propaganda in addition to overseeing a Washington D.C. chapter of a white nationalist organization.

Matthew Q. Gebert, a foreign affairs officer assigned to the Bureau of Energy Resources, used “Coach Finstock” as a pseudonym in correspondences with other wxhite nationalists, where he expressed a desire to build a country for whites only.

“[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. “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.”

According to an alumni update published in GW Magazine, Gebert joined the State Department in 2013 as a presidential management fellow. The fellowship program has a "narrow focus – developing a cadre of potential government leaders," according to a website dedicated to information on the program.

Comments that Herbert made on the podcast seemed to express that he knew that his connection to the white nationalist movement could end up costing him his career but referred to the group as "the most important thing."

“There are bigger things than a career and a paycheck, and I don’t want to lose mine,” Gebert said as “Coach Finstock” on an August 2017 episode of The Fatherland, referring to his commitment to white nationalism. “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.”

Hatewatch reported that they attempted to contact Herbert to question him about his use of the pseudonym but were never able to make contact.

According to the Daily Beast, Gebert's wife has also been connected to the groups, using the alias "Wolfie James" to post online.