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.

EO 14243 and Trump’s Data Consolidation: The Hidden Agenda Behind Big Tech Surveillance

As the implications of Executive Order 14243 (Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos) unfold, concerns about mass data aggregation and AI-driven surveillance are growing. This isn’t a distant possibility—it’s happening now, reshaping governance in ways that will only become clear when the consequences are irreversible. For those still questioning the scale of this transformation, consider this from Brian Berletic on Twitter:

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Bill to Ban Tik Tok Would Give Government Sweeping Powers to Crackdown on Tech

Bill to Ban Tik Tok Would Give Government Sweeping Powers to Crackdown on Tech

A person who violates the act could be fined up to $1 million or punished with up to 20 years in prison. The broad and vague definitions in the legislation caused many to wonder if people could be handed such harsh punishments for using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to get around future government censorship that could come as a result of the bill.

A spokesperson for Warner insisted that the legislation wasn’t designed to target individual users and pointed to the language that says someone “must be engaged in ‘sabotage or subversion’ of American communications technology products and services, creating ‘catastrophic effects’ on US critical infrastructure, or ‘interfering in, or altering the result’ of a federal election, in order to be eligible for any kind of criminal penalty.”

But the bill will give the Commerce Secretary the authority to deem what is considered “sabotage or subversion” or any of the other threats listed above. The legislation has grave implications for civil liberties and could be used against any individuals or tech and media companies the Biden administration, or any future administration would want to target.

Previously:

Tik-Tok bills could dangerously expand national security state

Taxpayers ARE on hook for bank bailout – and could even fund bankers’ bonuses

As regulators rush through emergency measures to prevent further chaos following the disastrous collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, there’s a point they’re very keen to emphasize: this is not a bailout.

Taxpayers ARE on hook for bank bailout – and could even fund bankers’ bonuses

Related:

Joe Biden stuck around just long enough to lie about who’s on the hook for SVB bailout

ATM thieves use glue and ‘tap’ function to drain accounts at Chase Bank

ATM thieves use glue and ‘tap’ function to drain accounts at Chase Bank

Chase did not say why multiple withdrawals did not trigger a fraud alert, or why the bank did not review surveillance video — but each transaction requires entering a PIN — which the thieves had apparently captured. So always, cover the keypad, and log out before you walk away.

H/T: Steve Lehto

Elections & Lithium Mining: Why is the US Suddenly Running ‘Get Out the Vote Ads’ in Nigeria?

Elections & Lithium Mining: Why is the US Suddenly Running ‘Get Out the Vote Ads’ in Nigeria?

Last year, US-based electric vehicle company Tesla put in a bid for a contract to mine some of that Lithium, but the Nigerian government denied them. Nigeria, like most African countries, has a history of foreign powers exploiting them for their national resources while offering little value to the people of Nigeria.

Video via Activist News Network

Related:

What Would It Mean for Nigeria to Elect an Igbo President?