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.

A Giant of Journalism Gets Half its Budget From the U.S. Government

A Giant of Journalism Gets Half its Budget From the U.S. Government

How Sullivan first caught the attention of the U.S. foreign policy officialdom is itself a window into the purpose of the organization. It begins with a coup in the Philippines. State Department official Michael Henning had previously been stationed there. In 2001, the non-profit outlet the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) exposed corruption by then-President Joseph Estrada, a nationalist with a standoffish relationship to the U.S. The exposé led to an impeachment inquiry, which fell short. But it also produced major street protests, leading to his ouster in a coup [EDSA 2]. The journalist’s pen was not just mightier than the sword, but less embarrassing to wield on a global stage in an era where overtly U.S.-backed military coups had gone out of fashion (if not entirely out of the toolkit). Henning was a major booster of PCIJ—which has been the beneficiary of grants from the National Endowment for Democracy—relaying its effectiveness to his colleagues.

The article refers to the Arab Spring and the Yugoslav Wars, but not how the U.S. was involved.

Related:

Front Organizations Behind Hit Piece on Igor Lopatonok:

Wikipedia

Grants from Luminate Group AKA Omidyar Network

Source
Source

A ‘myriad’ of front organizations had “Media Unlocked” banned from TikTok (PCIJ)

PH’s PressONE is funded by several US front organizations

Update to Notes on Ukrainian Government Exposed Surveilling News Outlet (GIJN)

Latin American Center for Journalistic Research (CLIP)

Front Organizations

Breakup of Yugoslavia (Yugoslav Wars)

U.S. Wars and Hostile Actions (WW2 – 2014) (Arab Spring)

Israel’s boycott of Haaretz is straight out of the authoritarian playbook

Authoritarians have a playbook when it comes to dealing with the media. It may not be written down anywhere, but the tactics are all too familiar to those with experience of these regimes: Demonize, detain (and if necessary even kill) — and defund. So it should ring alarm bells when supposed democracies engage in these behaviors. Israel’s decision on Sunday tocut funding for Haaretz — an internationally respected news outlet and Israel’s oldest newspaper — is the latest in Israel’s efforts to shut down criticism of its actions at home and to stifle coverage abroad.

Israel’s boycott of Haaretz is straight out of the authoritarian playbook

National Archivist Sanitized US Museum

Historians and other critics are responding with fierce condemnation to this week’s Wall Street Journal reporting that “U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan and her top advisers at the National Archives and Records Administration, which operates a popular museum on the National Mall, have sought to de-emphasize negative parts of U.S. history.”

‘Obeying Fascism in Advance,’ National Archivist Sanitized US Museum

Osama Bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ goes viral

Osama Bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ goes viral

TikTok users shared their diverse reactions, with one user expressing bewilderment, stating, “It’s wild, and everyone should read it,” while another admitted to experiencing an “existential crisis” after reading the document, claiming it changed her entire viewpoint on life.

“I will never look at life the same, I will never look at this country (USA) the same. If you have read it, let me know if you are going through an existential crisis. Because in the last 20 minutes, my entire viewpoint of the entire life I have believed and lived has changed,” wrote one user.

Wait until they see this!?

Related:

PDF: Osama bin Laden, Letter to the Americans