This article appears in the July 26, 2024 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
Ukraine’s ‘Molfar’ Hit List Puts Bullseye on J.D. Vance While Congress Pushes Back
[Print version of this article]
July 20 — Over the past two years, this publication has exposed the so-called “countering disinformation” nest—or slime mold—being run out of Ukraine for the purpose of neutralizing, politically or physically, opponents of NATO’s intent to deliver a strategic defeat to the Russian Federation through Ukraine’s war. EIR’s May 31, 2024 dossier, “ ‘Countering Disinformation’ by Assassination: The Lesson of the Fico Hit,” is the latest in providing a roadmap for an investigation into these operations, which use the guise of being housed in Ukraine despite the fact that they were all set up under the direction of NATO, U.S. and UK intelligence, and their EU allies. Molfar OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) is featured in that dossier, as is the Ukrainian government’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) and the Data Journalism Agency, known as Texty.
On July 16, Molfar added Senator J.D. Vance to its public register of alleged “Russian Foreign Propagandists,” even as he was being announced as Donald Trump’s Vice Presidential candidate. This outrageous action must be taken as a security threat of the highest order against Senator Vance and his running mate, Donald Trump. All funding Molfar receives from the U.S. State Department, its USAID, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), or through any other official U.S. channel or quango (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization) must be immediately frozen, pending a full investigation.
Molfar functions as a key targeting agency for Ukrainian military and intelligence agencies, while simultaneously packaging NATO propaganda for publication as “Ukrainian OSINT” by its multiple top Establishment media “partners.” It files its “Foreign Propagandists” list under the category of “Enemies of Ukraine,” who, it demands, must be treated as “a threat to the national security” and subjected to “removal from public positions, the introduction of sanctions, and investigations into personal involvement in crimes.” In addition, Molfar is often cited as an “authoritative” source by Establishment media.
That is the “clean” version. However, Molfar, like the CCD and the notorious Myrotvorets kill list, feeds the information it develops on its targets to both official Ukrainian agencies and radicals in the Ukrainian diaspora for direct physical action. “We have a list of potential victims,” Molfar posted on X on June 3, with a link to its “Foreign Propagandists” list attached.
Molfar’s M.O. is to publish the personal details of its targets and their closest family members; so far, Senator Vance’s family has been spared this action.
Molfar publicized Vance’s listing as an “enemy” on its Telegram and X accounts. The latter is an eight-part “thread dossier on J.D. Vance, who criticizes Ukraine, praises Orbán and may get an influential position in the White House.” The announcement on their X account concludes by saying: “Now J.D. Vance is in Molfar’s register of foreign propagandists of the Russian regime.”
Opposition in U.S. Congress Increasing
Over the recent weeks, the recognition of another Ukrainian blacklist, Texty, has begun to erupt. On June 6, Texty Data Journalism Agency published an enemies list of 390 Americans and 76 organizations (all but a handful of those are also American) charged with “echoing Russian propaganda” and “contributing to political discordance within the decision-making establishment.” How? By calling for an end to the insanity of unending U.S. support for using Ukraine to wage war against Russia.
Titled “Roller Coaster: From Trumpists to Communists. The forces in the U.S. impeding aid to Ukraine and how they do it,” the dossier names individuals who opposed funding for Ukraine or have otherwise taken a stance against the current narrative regarding Russia and Ukraine. This includes leading individuals like Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tucker Carlson; it includes 137 members of the U.S. Congress and Senate (all Republican); and it includes organizations such as The Libertarian Party and CodePink. In addition, Texty’s list includes prominent LaRouche representatives Diane Sare and Harley Schlanger. LaRouche movement members have featured prominently in all of the Ukrainian “enemies” lists, with Helga Zepp-LaRouche repeatedly being near the top.
A backlash ensued shortly after the June 6 Texty list’s publication, with a number of Congressional representatives demanding answers on the U.S. involvement and insisting that any funding to Texty be ended. “Federal bureaucrats should not support or partner with foreign groups that attempt to intimidate and silence U.S. citizens and lawmakers,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) wrote in a June 11 letter to the chairs of the Committee on Appropriations and its Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. Banks demanded that the State Department and USAID “end all relations with foreign NGOs like TEXTY that seek to silence the speech of Americans they dislike and to sway U.S. policymakers to serve their own interests.” His letter also pointed to the notorious Myrotvorets kill list and the CCD, which “also maintains a list of individuals who also allegedly ‘promote narratives consistent with Russian propaganda.’ ”
On the same day, J.D. Vance and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Tony Blinken requesting answers on Texty’s ties to the State Department. Their letter specifies that “this is not the first time a U.S.-sponsored Ukrainian outfit has engaged in a hit piece targeting the U.S. media market,” also naming Ukraine’s CCD. “All Americans can agree that our tax dollars should not be supporting direct attacks on U.S. persons based upon reasonable political disagreement, and especially not direct attacks on U.S. legislators based solely upon their vote,” they wrote.
Even Elon Musk, who is also on Texty’s list, weighed in. Musk endorsed Banks’s call to defund Texty as “a good first step” in a reply on his X platform, which he said should be followed by adding it “to the list of sanctioned terrorist organizations.”
Two weeks later, on June 28, the House passed H.R. 8771, the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) 2025 Appropriations Bill, which included a section prohibiting further funds to Texty. Section 7070 of the resolution is titled, “Additional Limitations on Operations and Assistance,” and includes sub-section (j) which reads: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available to the Data Journalism Agency or the Global Disinformation Index.” Data Journalism Agency is texty.org.ua. The vote, largely along party lines, passed 212-200. The bill now goes to the Senate, though there is no comparable bill there currently under consideration.
While it’s unclear what the future of this provision will be, this process creates an opportunity to broaden the discussion within the United States today. These security threats take on a heightened importance in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, PA and “Global NATO’s” publicly stated determination to “Trump-proof” the current Ukraine war policy so that no elected, sovereign government, in the U.S. or Europe, would be allowed to challenge it. If the existence of these “Ukrainian” hit lists becomes a topic at the upcoming House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearings on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, due to start the week of July 22, or any subsequent investigations, it would provide a vital opportunity to raise the discussion to the broader strategic implications behind them.
