3,518 words

Part 1

Since his departure from Fox News in April of 2023, political commentator Tucker Carlson has hosted his own independent podcast, routinely drawing hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. This June, he conducted an interview with Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman who represents Northern Kentucky. Massie, who is known for taking anti-interventionist foreign policy positions, is a conspicuous outlier within his party and all of Congress because of his history of voting against foreign aid to Israel.

In 2021, Massie was the sole Republican in the House to oppose a measure to fund Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system (1) More recently, Massie has voted “no” on several resolutions of support for the Jewish state throughout the course of its ongoing war in Gaza. As reported by The Nation, Massie’s voting record

“has drawn sharp criticism from neoconservatives in general, who worry about the return of the sort of old-school Republican isolationism that reflexively opposed military interventions and foreign aid packages, and in particular from AIPAC, which has objected to his many votes against aid to Israel, as well as his rejection of resolutions backing Netanyahu’s government.” (2)

AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is a lobbying organization that promotes Israeli interests, and has been firmly entrenched in the Washington political landscape for more than half a century. The group operates a Super-PAC called the United Democracy Project, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertisements attacking Massie during his May primary election campaign. Massie ultimately won anyway by a large margin. Fresh off his landslide victory, the Kentucky congressman exposed some heretofore hidden information about the breadth of AIPAC’s influence during his conversation with Carlson.

Tucker Carlson: So, what’s AIPAC?

Thomas Massie: AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and they didn’t start out as a PAC in the sense of a political action committee, but now they have a political action committee. Ostensibly, it’s a group of Americans who lobby on behalf of Israel. They’re for anything Israel; and they’re a very effective lobbying group. They get in there. They tried to get me to write a white paper, as a candidate, for instance, for Congress. They almost get…

Carlson: On what?

Massie: On Israel. And I wouldn’t do it. And they said “why” and I’m like “I don’t do homework for lobbyists, right? I’m like, I didn’t like writing term papers at college; I’m not writing one for you.

Carlson: What did they say?

Massie: They said “Well here, just copy (Kentucky Senator) Rand Paul’s term paper and put your name on it, we’ll accept that. And I’m like “No. I’m still not cribbing somebody else’s homework to do homework. I’m not turning in my homework for you.

Carlson: *laughs*

Massie: You’re laughing, but you know what? I bet I may be the only Republican in Congress who hasn’t done homework for AIPAC, and it’s just… What it is is conditioning. They want you to do something very simple and benign, and you know, for them, and they don’t really grade your “term paper”. They just want to know that you’ll do something for them. And if you’ll do something for them as a candidate, you’re more likely to do something for them as a congressman when you get in there. So, this, my rift started out in 2012 when I refused to turn in…

Carlson: How did they respond to that?

Massie: Well, they kind of got in my race a little too late there in the beginning, because it was hard to tell that I was actually going to win. And when they saw I was going to win, that’s when they tried to get me to do the term paper. They didn’t have a political action committee at the time; they couldn’t spend hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars against me at that time. It was just sort of like a whisper campaign to try to “hey, don’t vote for him, blah blah blah.”

Carlson: Why?

Massie: Because at that point they sensed I wouldn’t do what they wanted.

Massie proceeded to explain that he opposes sending foreign aid to all other countries on principle, not just Israel. When Massie told Carlson that the United Democracy Project had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on attack ads, the host expressed surprise that an organization who holds such sway in Congress would care that there was one legislator who opposed them. The conversation then turned to the fact that AIPAC is not registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), something that both Massie and Carlson agreed should change. After that, Carlson asked the congressman if any of his colleagues privately support his views on AIPAC. Massie confirmed that there are some who do, and more than one of them has tried to intervene on Massie’s behalf by talking to their “AIPAC person.” “By the way” said Massie “everybody but me has an AIPAC person.” This led to the most enlightening exchange of the interview:

Carlson: What does that mean, an AIPAC person?

Massie: It’s like your babysitter, your AIPAC babysitter, who is always talking to you for AIPAC. They’re probably a constituent in your district, but they are, you know, firmly embedded in AIPAC.

Carlson: Every member has something like this?

Massie: I don’t know how it works on the Democrat side, but that’s how it works on the Republican side. And when they come to DC you go have lunch with them, and they’ve got your cell number, and you have conversations with them. So, I’ve had, like…

Carlson: That’s absolutely crazy.

Massie: I’ve had four members of Congress say “I’ll talk to my AIPAC person.” And that’s clearly what we call them, “my AIPAC guy.” “I’ll talk to my AIPAC guy and see if I can get them to, you know, dial those ads back.”

Carlson: Why have I never heard this before?

Massie: It doesn’t benefit anybody. Why would they want to tell their constituents that they’ve basically got a buddy system with somebody who’s representing a foreign country? It doesn’t benefit the Congressman for people to know that, so they’re not going to tell you that.

The revelation that all House Republicans, save one plucky rebel from Kentucky, have an “AIPAC babysitter” provides a frightening glimpse of the extent to which Israeli agents have managed to impact the American political system. But while we may be hearing some of the details for the first time, it is no secret that America’s federal government is utterly beholden to the Jewish state. More than thirty years ago, former presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan remarked that “Capitol hill is Israeli-occupied territory. (3) And now? A single quote from Rep. Nancy Pelosi tells us all we need to know about the Israeli stranglehold over America’s foreign policy. Here is what Pelosi told a gathering of Israel supporters in 2019 while she was serving as Speaker of the House: “If this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain would be our commitment to our aid, I don’t even call it our aid, our cooperation with Israel. That’s fundamental to who we are.” (4)

Israeli-occupied territory indeed!

AIPAC: Born Through Deception

Both Massie and Carlson think that AIPAC ought to be registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. It isn’t hard to see why. As described by the Congressional Research Service, FARA was passed in 1938 in order to “require that individuals engaged in propaganda on behalf of foreign governments and principals register with the government and disclose information about their clients, activities, and contract terms.” (5) The CRS provides several examples of the types of activities undertaken by “agents of a foreign principal.” These include anyone “who directly or through any other person”

(i) engages within the United States in political activities for or in the interests of such foreign principal;

(ii) acts within the United States as a public relations counsel, publicity agent, information service employee or political consultant for or in the interests of such foreign principal;

(iii) within the United States solicits, collects, disburses, or dispenses contributions, loans, money, or other things of value for or in the interest of such foreign principal; or

(iv) within the United States represents the interests of such foreign principal before any agency or official of the Government of the United States.

In other words, exactly what AIPAC does. Certainly, this organization should be registered as a foreign agent. How, then, does it “get away” with not doing so? Luckily for us, former AIPAC employee MJ Rosenberg has the answer to that question:

It gets away with it because AIPAC’s founder, I.L. Kenen, came up with a legal loophole by which AIPAC is defined not as a lobby for a foreign state but for Americans who support that state. It’s a critical distinction that makes AIPAC’s dominance over U.S. Middle East policy possible.

I worked at AIPAC directly for Kenen, back in the 1970s before moving on to Capitol Hill. He told me that he came up with the AIPAC formula — AIPAC as an American organization lobbying for Americans — so that AIPAC would be legally permitted to engage in politics and not have to reveal its activities. (6)

Grant Smith, a scholar who has written several books on Israel’s influence in American politics, had this to say about the formative years of AIPAC:

“The indefatigable Kenen worked members of Congress and obtained initial approval of $15 million in aid to Israel, despite robust State Department opposition. This early success set AIPAC’s strategy of seeking aid to Israel not on the basis of merit, presidential administration prerogative as the maker of foreign policy, or broad State Department initiatives, but through fake grassroots efforts financed by foreign funds from Israel to “prime the American pump.” The Israel lobbying campaign for favorable public relations and media coverage included strategically directed gifts and grants to U.S. colleges and universities for new Israel-centric “Middle East Studies” departments and unfettered lobbying with tax-exempt funds recycled from overseas into the U.S. political system.” (7)

In light of this information, it is fair to conclude that AIPAC was conceived through deception, dishonesty, and trickery. But has the organization outgrown its ignoble origins, or do those involved in AIPAC’s lobbying efforts today act with the same sort of unscrupulousness exemplified by Mr. Kenen? As I write this, there are 219 Republicans in the House of Representatives, meaning that there are at least 218 so-called “AIPAC persons” who are assigned to a Congressman (Massie doesn’t have one). Unfortunately, there is no way to know the identities of these foreign agents. However, the identities of some of the major players involved in funding AIPAC and other Zionist groups in America are known. The remainder of this essay will consist of an examination of the activities of a handful of leading contributors to the Israel lobby. As we will see, they are far from shining examples of moral virtue.

Leonid Radvinsky’s Path to Power

Question: What sort of person, upon realizing that there are thousands of pedophiles searching for ways to illegally access child pornography, immediately thinks to themself “How can I make a profit off of this?”

Answer: AIPAC’s biggest donor.

His name is Leonid Radvinsky, and he is a Ukrainian-born Jewish billionaire who now lives in Florida. According to Thomas Brewster and David Dawkins of Forbes, while a student at Northwestern University in Chicago, Radvinsky “ran a small empire of websites that advertised access to “illegal” and “hacked” passwords to porn sites, including ones that were advertised as featuring underage performers.” (8) The young Radvinsky was nothing if not industrious, and built no fewer than eleven sites of that nature. Brewster and Dawkins helpfully provide a brief overview of some of his “creations”:

“They included Password Universe, which, in 2000, published a link directing web users to a site claiming to offer pedophiles more than 10,000 “illegal pre-teen passwords.” In 1999, a site called Working Passes had a link for “the hottest underaged hardcore” containing 16-year-olds. Also in 2000, another site, Ultra Passwords, promised a link containing ‘the best illegal teen passwords’ and ‘the hottest bestiality site on the web.’”9)

The “passwords” in question were all fake, and instead linked to “similar sites offering more links to free porn passwords or other adult content.” (10) Radvinsky had made agreements with these other websites, whereby he would receive compensation each time someone clicked on one of his phony links. After this scheme proved a success, the youthful newcomer must have realized that the porn industry could be his ticket to wealth and power. He went on to found MyFreeCams.com, which is “a porn site that featured “models” who got naked and offered sexual performances on webcams.” (11) Strangely, he also had a habit of purchasing “porn related domain names”, so much so that he owned “at least 950” of them by 2014. (12) Both the fake password business and the cam site pale in comparison to his latest source of income- OnlyFans.

Founded in 2016, OnlyFans was the brainchild of Tim Stokley, the son of a British investment banker. Stokley’s previous business endeavors included the creation of such websites as GlamGirls and Customs4U, so he too had carved out a place in the world of pornography, thanks in no small part to the financial backing of his wealthy father. (13) Contrary to popular belief, OnlyFans is not strictly a platform for porn. As explained by Matilda Boseley of The Guardian, OnlyFans “is technically open to anyone – from personal trainers to artists and cooks – but it’s best known for one thing: nudes. Creators charge subscription fees for exclusive content, put up pay-per-view posts, and generate income from tips and livestreams.” (14) Part of what sets it apart from other adult websites is that OnlyFans receives just a twenty percent cut of what performers make. Normally, this would result in financial ruin for the operators of such a site, partially because payment processors tend to charge hefty fees when doing business with porn companies. However, Stokley avoided this by writing a “no sexually explicit content” clause into the OnlyFans terms of service, all the while knowingly allowing porn to proliferate on the platform. From the site’s inception until early 2018, Stokley pretended OnlyFans disallowed adult content, and payment processors were none the wiser. Eventually, though, he decided to admit that OnlyFans did indeed allow porn. At that point, according to Alex Barker of the Financial Times’ Hot Money podcast:

A different financial service came in to handle all the explicit accounts. Presumably a much more expensive payment processor. And people in the industry told me that OnlyFans, around this time, began to struggle with payments in particular. And within six months, hey presto, the Stokleys sold OnlyFans. (15)

Radvinsky swooped in to buy 75 percent of the company. As it turned out, he did so just in time for the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic, which resulted in an enormous windfall for OnlyFans and its new owner. Brewster and Dawkins, writing in June of 2021, reported that:

With all film production – adult or otherwise – shuttered during the pandemic and millions of lonely people stuck at home, OnlyFans’ business has boomed. In the year through November 2020, OnlyFans posted revenues of $400 million, up 540% over the prior year, 80% of which came from American customers. The number of creators nearly quintupled to 1.6 million, including more mainstream stars like Cardi B, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, and Rebecca Minkoff. The total number of paying fans rose more than 500% to 82 million. Profits after tax rose to $60 million from $6.6 million. Forbes estimates that Radvinsky’s stake in Fenix International – OnlyFans’ parent company — makes him a new billionaire, worth some $1.8 billion. (16)

It would get even better for Radvinsky in the years that followed, as the billionaire porn kingpin raked in $221 million in 2021 and a staggering $338 million in 2022 from dividends alone. (17) However, despite his meteoric rise to wealth and status, Radvinsky does not relish being the center of attention, and has been characterized as both “elusive” (18) and “reclusive.” (19)

Radvinsky’s Gift to the Lobby

Regardless of what one may think about the methods by which Radvinsky obtained his fortune, there can be no doubting the man’s generosity. He and his wife Katie were willing to give the remarkable sum of $11 million to a cause near and dear to his heart-the Israel lobby:

According to confidential internal documents reviewed by The Lever, AIPAC reported a massive $90 million fundraising haul in the month following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel. One contribution stood out: an $11 million pledge from a “Mr. Anonymous Anonymous” and Katie Chudnovsky, the largest listed contribution in the documents. (20).

To put Radvinsky’s gift into perspective, the next-largest donation AIPAC received was a mere $2 million (21). Greater than ten percent of the funds the organization received between October 2023 and February 2024 came from this one man. Yet, the evasive porn baron sought to deny his contribution to the Zionist cause:

“I didn’t donate or pledge $11M,” Radvinsky wrote in an email, and “this appl[ies] to me / my foundation / my family.” When The Lever asked Radvinsky why AIPAC had him listed as a donor, Radvinsky replied, “I don’t know.” When The Lever asked Radvinsky to comment on internal AIPAC documentation showing a wire transfer from his wife to AIPAC, Radvinsky stopped responding. (22)

A quick word of advice for our friend Leo: if you want to hide your identity while making a donation, don’t put your wife’s name on the donation! Does he expect anyone to believe that some other fellow made a joint $11 million dollar donation with his wife? And when shown the proof, he just “stopped responding.” Simply incredible! Perhaps the tech-savvy billionaire isn’t so smart after all!

Radvinsky as an Avatar for AIPAC

On the other hand, Radvinsky was smart enough to figure out that bankrolling AIPAC during Israel’s hellish assault on the civilians of Gaza is not something that would earn him the praise of the public. Just like the “fake password” business and the porn industry as a whole, there is nothing at all honorable about strengthening Israel’s ability to control American politicians. Then again, it is doubtful that Radvinsky has ever worked an honest day in his life. Ever since he was a teenage college student in Chicago, he has been profiting off of depravity and vice. He didn’t even come up with the idea of OnlyFans; he merely rescued it from fiscal trouble, and now profits off of Tim Stokley’s perverse creation. The man is nothing more than a glorified pimp. Each day, scores of financially-struggling women and men, who are often victims of past or ongoing abuse, debase themselves on camera via OnlyFans and Radvinsky takes his share of their earnings. He contributes nothing positive to society, yet, on the backs of the most broken and desperate among us, he has climbed his way into the highest echelon of wealth and privilege. What can we call such a man, if not a parasite?

Indeed, Radvinsky is most deserving of that characterization. It suits him well. He cannot, however, be characterized as a loyal American who honestly supports the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel because he believes it is in America’s interest. Radvinsky is almost certainly a dual-citizen of the United States and Ukraine. He may well be an Israeli citizen too, though he has never resided there. Citizen or not, it’s obvious where Randvinsky’s main loyalty lies; he is a Jew first and foremost. This is the person who leads the way in financing that so-called “American organization lobbying for Americans” that I.L. Kenen built. (23) But Radvinsky doesn’t want you to know that; he prefers to remain in the shadows, his activities obscured, entirely absent from the public consciousness. In this way, Leonid Radvinsky is the perfect avatar for AIPAC.

Notes

Jacob Magid, “US lawmakers who opposed or abstained on Iron Dome funding explain their vote,“ The Times of Israel, September 25, 2021.

John Nichols, “Meet the Kentucky Republican Who Beat AIPAC,” The Nation, May 28, 2024.

“Behind the Headlines; Buchanan’s Latest Anti-israel Slur May Signal New Conservative Trend,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, August 31, 1990.

Philip Weiss, “Pay no attention to Tlaib and Omar, says Pelosi– but she does,” Mondoweiss, January 26, 2019.

“Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA): An Overview,” Congressional Research Service, January 5, 2024.

MJ Rosenberg, “It’s Time For AIPAC To Register As A Foreign Agent,” The Forward, March 2, 2018.

Grant Smith, Where Did AIPAC Come From? – Antiwar.com Antiwar.com, October 9, 2007.

Thomas Brewster and David Dawkins, “The Shady, Secret History Of OnlyFans’ Billionaire Owner,” Forbes, June 16, 2021.

Brewster and Dawkins.

Brewster and Dawkins.

Jyoti Mann, “OnlyFans Owner Leonid Radvinsky’s Quest to Join the Super-Rich,” Business Insider, October 30, 2022.

Mann, 2022.

Allen Lee, “10 Things You Didn’t Know about Tim Stokely,” MoneyInc, October 7, 2021.

Matilda Boseley, “‘Everyone and their mum is on it’: OnlyFans booms in popularity during the pandemic,” The Guardian, December 22, 2020.

Patricia Nelson and Alex Barker, “How OnlyFans changed porn,” Financial Times, January 19, 2023.

Brewster and Dawkins.

Jyoti Mann, “OnlyFans’ Reclusive Owner Made $338 Million Last Year,” Business Insider, August 26, 2023.

Malu Cursino, “OnlyFans: Who is Leonid Radvinsky, the elusive owner of a porn empire?,” BBC News, August 26, 2023.

Mann, 2023.

. Nikki McCann Ramirez, “OnlyFans Owner Leonid Radvinsky Pledged $11 Million To AIPAC,” Rolling Stone, February 1, 2024.

Amos Barshad,“Where AIPAC’s new donations are coming from and going towards,” The Forward, February 6, 2024.

Barshad.

Rosenberg.