Anthony Jean Tata (born September 7, 1959) (/ˈteɪtə/) is an American retired military officer, author and government official.

[2] He is the author of the Threat series of thriller novels, and became a regular on Fox News after leaving the army,[3] where he offered pro-Donald Trump commentary.

[3] He has falsely claimed that Barack Obama is a Muslim and "terrorist leader" and promoted a baseless conspiracy theory asserting that the CIA sought to assassinate Trump.

[12] In 1981, Tata received a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy and chose Infantry as his branch of service.

[citation needed] Tata served in the United States Army for 28 years, retiring in 2009 with the rank of brigadier general.

[14] Tata and his first wife (Tracy Lynn) divorced in April 1993 under acrimonious circumstances: his ex-wife filed a complaint against him with the Army's Office of Inspector General (OIG), triggering an investigation.

"[19] OIG's conclusion rejecting the allegation of failure to pay child support was based on a supposed 2001 Georgia court order submitted as evidence by Tata and his lawyer.

[19] After retiring from active duty service, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the District of Columbia Public Schools from 2009 to 2010.

Citing concerns over his "leadership style" and his handling of student assignment issues in the large school district, Tata's contract was terminated after less than two years, in 2012.

[26] As Secretary he was "a forceful advocate for the governor's highways, ports and railroads improvements campaign" and promoted McCrory's proposals to take out $3 billion in bonds for transportation infrastructure.

[30] He repeatedly pushed the notion that a "deep state cabal" was working to undermine Trump;[8] pushed false conspiracy theories that Brennan ordered the assassination of Trump;[4] and, on another occasion, tweeted at Brennan, "Might be a good time to pick your poison: firing squad, public hanging, life sentence as prison b*tch, or just suck on your pistol.

"[5][29] Tata also made various inflammatory Twitter posts attacking Democratic politicians Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters as "violent extremists" and using a racist hashtag to criticize CNN journalist Don Lemon.

[5] On April 24, 2020, Trump announced his intent to nominate Tata to be the next Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, replacing John Rood, who resigned from the position in February 2020.

[8] Upon his nomination, Tata's past conspiratorial and inflammatory comments in Twitter posts, radio interviews, and other statements led to opposition to the appointment.

[5][32][29] After the nomination was made, 51 minority, LGBT, faith, disability and employee groups (including the NAACP and American Federation of Teachers) sent an open letter to senators opposing Tata's confirmation, calling him "patently unfit" for the post due to his comments and criticizing Tata's record as superintendent of the Wake County, North Carolina school system.

"[16] Several former generals, including Joseph Votel and Tony Thomas, withdrew their support for Tata after learning of his offensive comments.