Personnel note: Gary Palmer’s Communications Director Cliff Smith leaves Hill

Monday, U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer‘s (AL-06) Communications Director Cliff Smith left Capitol Hill to take a new position as the Washington Project Director of the Middle East Forum.

Prior to joining Palmer’s team, Smith was a law clerk on two Senate committees and a legislative correspondent in the House of Representatives for U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ-04). Smith, a 2002 graduate of Washington State University, has a master’s in public policy from Pepperdine University and a law degree from The Catholic University of America.

“It was an honor to have the opportunity to work for Rep. Palmer, a man I respect and believe will continue to do great work for Alabama and the nation,” Smith told Alabama Today. “I am excited to join the Middle East Forum. I have always had a deep and abiding interest in foreign affairs, particularly the Middle East, and I am a former student of Dr. Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum. I am excited for where this venture will take me and I look forward to building more relationships in Washington DC in service of a smart and effective foreign policy toward the Middle East.”

In a release, Smith’s former professor and President of the Middle East Forum, Daniel Pipes said, “Clifford Smith brings solid knowledge of Washington and of the Middle East to the Forum. We look to him to build on our existing issues in the U.S. capital and then expand on them.”

The Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank, is dedicated to defining American interests in the Middle East and protecting America from Islamist threats. It achieves its goals through intellectual, activist, and philanthropic efforts.