COINTELPRO 2.0: Project Esther, EO 14243, and Palantir

The pattern is familiar, and the escalation is predictable. I warned about this recently, and now it’s unfolding exactly as anticipated.

From my May 22 post:

Just as I anticipated, the blame is being directed at China. Marco Rubio, currently serving in the Trump administration, has previously targeted various leftist organizations for their funding connections to Neville Roy Singham, who has been accused of having ties to the Communist Party of China. These allegations originated from front groups linked to Stratfor, often referred to as the “Shadow CIA,” as well as the State Department and U.S. Intelligence. Additionally, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) receives backing from the Israel lobby. Recall my previous post about Project Esther, which linked antisemitism to Marxism. Expect a crackdown on leftists and other antiwar activists who are protesting the Gaza war.

On May 28, the Heritage Foundation—architect of Project Esther—officially embraced the narrative linking pro-Palestinian activism to Chinese influence.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther is more than a framework—it’s a blueprint for ideological suppression masquerading as national security policy. By tying anti-Zionism to antisemitism, then layering in foreign influence accusations, the initiative sets the stage for a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Under the guise of national security, any challenge to U.S. policy—whether in opposition to the Gaza war or broader leftist movements—can be framed as a foreign threat. This justification makes mass surveillance not just palatable but necessary.

Enter Palantir—the data engine that makes ideological suppression scalable. While Heritage Foundation shapes the narrative and justification for crackdowns, Palantir provides the technical apparatus to execute them. As I warned in my earlier post, EO 14243 and Trump’s Data Consolidation: The Hidden Agenda Behind Big Tech Surveillance, Palantir is embedding digital IDs across DHS, IRS, and Social Security, consolidating surveillance under the guise of fraud prevention. These tools, once presented as safeguards against fraud, now serve a far clearer purpose: streamlining the targeting and suppression of leftist dissent. Heritage Foundation supplies the blueprint—Palantir builds the machinery.

This isn’t new. The playbook remains the same—COINTELPRO weaponized bureaucratic surveillance to neutralize Black liberation and leftist movements under the guise of national security. Now, Project Esther will leverage EO 14243’s infrastructure to fuse ideological suppression with the mechanics of automated surveillance. Just as COINTELPRO framed activists as subversives to justify government crackdowns, Project Esther weaponizes accusations of extremism and foreign influence to achieve similar ends. The targets have shifted, but the machinery of repression remains intact.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Network States: The New Frontier of Soft Power and Corporate Feudalism

They sell the dream of autonomy—self-governing, tech-powered havens untethered from old institutions. But look closer, and you’ll see that Network States aren’t a rebellion against centralized power. They’re a rebrand, a more sophisticated, digitally optimized iteration of company towns, where the people inside serve the system without ever realizing they were locked in from the start.

Read More »

Trump, Gaza, and the Network State: Tech Colonialism Rises + Cuba

Trump, Gaza, and the Network State: Tech Colonialism Rises

Trump’s fixation on taking Gaza, like his obsession with acquiring Greenland, reveals a clear alignment with the Network State ideology.

But don’t take my word for it. Earlier this month, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey gave a statement to Pirate Wiresin which he proposed a new “Liberty City” at the site of the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, Cuba. (Pirate Wires is a website owned by Peter Thiel deputy Mike Solana.)

Related:

I’ve suspected for a while that these Network States could be used as staging grounds for regime change operations, and, well… seems I wasn’t too far off. 

NED targets Cuba with $6.6 million in 2025

Trump Administration Restores US National Endowment for Democracy’s Funding

Working paper: Freedom Cities-Magatte Wade-Próspera Africa-Atlas Network

The DOGE Is All Wrong

W.J. Astore

You can’t do a wrong thing the right way

During World War II, the Nazi system of extermination camps was fairly efficient. Relatively small death camps like Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka killed an astonishing number of people, more than 1.6 million and nearly all Jews, quickly and efficiently. If there were a Nazi DOGE, I suppose these death camps may have won “efficiency” awards from it. They stripped the incoming victims of all their valuables and then killed virtually all of them. The loot stolen by the SS was then distributed, again fairly efficiently.

The DOGE Is All Wrong

Zeteo’s Newest Contributors

Zeteo’s Newest Contributors – Thanks to You!

JASON STANLEY
New column: Fascism Watch

Jason is an award-winning author and currently a professor of philosophy at Yale. An expert in authoritarian governments, Jason recently decided to move to Canada, calling the Trump administration ​“a fascist regime​.” He will begin teaching at the University of Toronto​ in the fall. Jason is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them and Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.

In his new Zeteo column, Fascism Watch, Jason will write about the growth of authoritarianism under Trump and the threats of fascism around the world. Stay tuned for his new column, coming soon! For now, check out Jason’s piece from last year, Political Violence Makes The Task Of Stopping Trump And Fascism Much Harder.

Previously:

Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada +

Concerns over MEK’s potential Influence in Congress + More

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) are synonymous.

The Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) has renewed its efforts to position itself as a credible opposition movement to the Islamic Republic. The recent outcome of the group’s lobbying activities has been a resolution submitted by 160 congressmen. However, a comprehensive new report from the Congressional Research Service [CRS] critically assesses these ongoing efforts, underscoring significant concerns regarding the MEK’s extremist ideological origins, historical involvement in terrorism, documented human rights abuses, and notably weak popular support among Iranians both domestically and within the diaspora.

Concerns over MEK’s potential Influence in Congress (archived)

Related:

Read More »

Trump’s Crypto Heist: A Taxpayer-Funded Scam? #Agenda47

Trump’s Strategic Crypto Scam isn’t just about money

I’ve been working on a piece that is quite chilling. It’s an analysis of an essay by a strategic thinker who supports the Network State idea and has stark observations about what’s unfolding in Washington today.

Trump’s Crypto Heist: A Taxpayer-Funded Scam?

Related:

Implications of Cryptocurrency

Libertarian City Dream in Honduras Becomes $11 Billion Nightmare + More

Techno Feudalism

Trump’s “Freedom Cities,” also known as Network States, would blow your mind if you thought 15-minute cities were dystopian. 👇🏻

Working paper: Freedom Cities-Magatte Wade-Próspera Africa-Atlas Network