Why do Republicans hate America being a superpower?
Plus: Former FBI agent McGonigal sentenced to more than four years in prison
ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
This week, the Heritage Foundation hosted Hungarian President Viktor Orbán at an event focused on ending aid to Ukraine, the latest iteration of Orbán’s transatlantic attempts to boost Vladimir Putin.
For those not familiar with Orbán, he has turned Hungary from a fledgling post-Cold War democracy into an authoritarian state. He has crushed the country’s free press, run universities out of the country, and is Vladimir Putin’s main puppet inside the European Union. Indeed, he has been blocking aid to Ukraine on that side of the Atlantic, as well, leading some to begin calling for Hungary to be expelled from the EU altogether, particularly given Orbán’s disregard for the union’s democratic values.
The Heritage Foundation seems keen to take a page from Orbán’s playbook. The organization is behind Project 2025, which outlines plans for a second Trump presidency. Perhaps it is inspired by developments in Hungary. Project 2025 outlines a number of far-right cabinet picks, including people who have stated (out loud and in no uncertain terms) their plans to round up the media and political opponents and toss them in prison. It also lay out loyalty tests for civil servants. (I ranted about all that last week.)
The Guardian reported that several Republican congresspeople were slated to attend the closed-door event with Orbán. And it really was closed-door: I have seen zero reporting this week about what transpired during the event. (If any of my readers have insights about what exactly was discussed, and would like to share them with me, feel free to reach out!)
Russia’s Modus Operandi
If you’ve taken my Foreign Influence Operations course, you’re familiar with how Putin’s intelligence services use think tanks and similar organizations to help move their talking points into the arena where influential policymakers can hear them and, hopefully, implement them. If you haven’t taken the course, why not? It’s incredibly relevant!
I am certain this is what was happening at Heritage this week. Orbán is an obvious Putin proxy, but I am sure there were others at the gathering helping to shape the opinions of congresspeople and policymakers who were in attendance. It one hundred percent fits the pattern we’ve seen play out over and over, both at home and across other democracies. (I won’t go into specific details here; I wrote an entire course about it!)
As Goes Ukraine, So Goes The World
Orbán’s short-term goal at this meeting (and similar ones over the last weeks in Europe) is to end Western aid to Ukraine. As I have stated repeatedly, ending aid to Ukraine is the same as helping Putin.
Ukraine is the kinetic part of a much larger global battle. Putin is using influence operations to ensure his ideas take hold in the West. Ending aid to Ukraine means defeating democracy in Ukraine, but also defeating democracy in the West.
And that is the main objective of the autocrats: killing democracy and allowing illiberal (i.e. authoritarian) regimes to flourish. Democracy anywhere is a threat to autocrats everywhere. If their people see democracy in other countries, they might start demanding it for themselves. And that would be bad for the likes of Putin and Orbán.
It’s hard to think that Republicans don’t also agree that democracy is bad for them too. The GOP is now a de facto anti-democratic political party, interested more in staying in power. And democracy ain’t the way to do that.
Since the end of World War Two, the United States has been the leader of an alliance of liberal democracies. We’ve also been one of the main beneficiaries of this system. It has made us the wealthiest and most powerful country in the history of, well, ever.
Yet now Republicans are playing footsie with Orbán, flirting with many of his same policies. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Hungary this past year. Tucker Carlson has made Hungary a regular stopover. It’s all part of a global far-right movement to ensure the grip of Christian nationalism (or, as some might say, Christofascism).
Why are Republicans so intent on turning America into a loser, holding up Hungary as a country to emulate? The country’s shitty autocratic policies are enough reason not to want to be like Hungary. But also: It’s Hungary! It isn’t a global super power. The United States is! Why try to turn the US into something with less power??
Imagine this conversation:
“Lionel Messi, you are the greatest soccer player on Earth and command a global audience and hold enormous influence and sway. It’s really quite impressive. But we’d now like to give you a choice, Leo. You can remain Lionel Messi, or…
You can be Pete, this jackass who plays intramural soccer in Kansas and is disliked by his entire team. He often uses his hands and fouls other players (including his own). He also occasionally pisses himself.
What do you think, Leo? Which do you choose? Remain Lionel Messi? Or become Pete the pisser?”
It should be an easy choice to pick the former, folks. But it looks like the GOP are picking the latter.
Quick Update On Charles McGonigal
My very first Rant! questioned the FBI’s pension plan, after Charles McGonigal, who had headed the Bureau’s counterintelligence program in the New York field office, was caught breaking sanctions by working for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Read this for the full background on McGonigal’s case:
Yesterday, he was sentenced to 50 months in prison for his actions. He faces further sentencing early next year in a different case related to his shady business dealings in Albania.
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of stories you should be reading
EUROPE
German Spy Official Goes on Trial Accused of Selling Secrets to Russia (NY Times)
The Qatargate Files (Politico) (A deep dive into the scandal I cover in Class 11 of my Foreign Influence Operations course)
RUSSIA
Russian hackers targeted NATO forces and diplomats to aid Ukraine war effort (CNN)
Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She writes and teaches about terrorism, disinformation / covert influence, and oligarch yachts. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, The Center for Public Integrity, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, France24, and numerous other media outlets. She was also invited once to speak at Harvard, which she now tells everyone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. She is the author of the Victor Caro series, satirical novels about the CIA. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Did she mention she was invited to speak at Harvard?
FDR's Lend-Lease did more than help Britain defend itself, it helped boost the US economy AND it got us started on retooling our factories to get a head start on our own rearming. I'd call that a win-win. So of course the republicans want to stop helping Ukraine, abandoning a friendly nation to a hostile aggressor and hurting the US economy. You can always count on the republicans to chose the worst option.