Taking a break from their constant anti-Trump/pro-Clinton juggernaut, the news industry is reporting that GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz chose a former Reagan Administration administration official — who is now the head of a national security think-tank — as his security policy adviser. But rather than announcing the appointment and listing his achievements, reporters ran to a suspicious left-wing “watchdog”to denigrate Cruz’s new advisor.

The Hill news web site, which is used by many top news organizations for U.S. government coverage, called Cruz appointee Frank Gaffney an “archconservative” and noted that he is “one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.”

Gaffney is the president of the conservative think-tank Center for Security Policy, a well-respected organization that assists law enforcement and the military. He is a former Pentagon official who has appeared numerous times on news programs aired by Fox News Channel, Newsmax TV, CNN and others.

“I am honored and humbled to have a range of respected voices willing to offer their best advice,” Cruz said in a statement announcing the list of foreign policy hands. “These are trusted friends who will form a core of our broader national security team,” Cruz said upon announcing the Gaffney appointment.

The Gaffney announcement has drawn intense criticism from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which many critics claim is a left-wing front-group for the Democrat Party that lists Christian, Jewish and other organizations as being “hate groups.”  SPLC stated that Gaffney is“gripped by paranoid fantasies about Muslims destroying the West from within.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center claims that Gaffney “is now one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.”

In its review of Gaffney — and what many in law enforcement consider his valuable work — SPLC wrote: “If Frank Gaffney Jr. had his way, average hard-working Americans of the Muslim faith would be dragged before Congress to face such questions as, “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood?” In Gaffney’s mind, America is in peril, and bringing back the notorious Cold War-era House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) would expose the subversives he imagines are working to implement Shariah religious law throughout the land.”

“That group [Southern Poverty Law Center] is hardly an unbiased watchdog. In fact, it’s reviews sound more like a leftist hit list of groups that must be stopped,” said Sid Franes, a former police detective and intelligence operative. “It’s just another ACLU wannabe without the big budget,” he added.

Political strategist Mike Baker believes that news organizations find the SPLC a convenient tool that provides quotes for them to hide behind. “If ABC or CNN wish to denigrate a GOP candidate all they need to so is call on SPLC and they get exactly what they’re looking for. Then they claim they’re not editorializing in the news stories since it was SPLC criticizing someone,” Baker noted.

During the Reagan Administration, the 62-year-old Gaffney served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and he holds both bachelor and master degrees from Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University respectively.