Perspective: DOGE, Disinformation and a New America
February 12, 2025
Hi readers, today I’m sharing this Perspective article with all my readers both free and paid. This weekend Moldova Matters will be increasing subscription prices for new subscribers so this is your last chance to lock in the old, cheaper prices now. I’m sharing this article publicly both because I think it is important and as a preview of the kinds of things available only to subscribers. It’s a long one but I think worth reading until the end.
"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen" - V. I. Lenin
This quote is commonly attributed to Vladimir Lenin but there isn’t really any evidence that he actually said it. Even so, it has a staying power because it highlights the essence of his political project - revolutionary, accelerationist, change and the acknowledgment that history proceeds at an uneven pace.
It might seem odd to start an article about how the actions of Elon Musk, Donald Trump and “DOGE” are impacting Moldova with a Lenin quote. Unfortunately, Mr. Lenin’s thoughts connect here on a few levels. First of all, the strategy of the new American administration has largely been crafted by avowed Leninist Steve Bannon. Back in the first Trump term he stated:
“The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
So far this media-focused accelerationist strategy has clearly worked. No one in the US knows how to really cover what is going on and the Democratic Party seems to largely be stunned into silence. The only real question now is whether or not this blitz will succeed in overwhelming the courts as well. Technically, a judge has frozen the administration’s orders suspending and recalling nearly all of USAID’s workforce - but it isn’t clear that the administration is fully following the judge’s orders.
The second level for the Lenin quote is that my conversations with people in Moldova have shown a deep unease about what is happening in the US. In Eastern Europe people have seen this playbook before.
So, as the United States slides deeper into constitutional crisis it seemed like a good time to try and better understand how this rhetoric and discourse is affecting Moldova. In future articles I’ll focus more on what aid programs have been cut and what specific changes are happening in the official US - Moldova relationship. For now, we need to look at how the whole world is suddenly having a new conversation and what that looks like in Moldova.
The Shifting USAID Fever Dream Conspiracies
Once Musk and his DOGE team took over the USAID offices and computer systems (and ejected any security staff who raised objections) they began releasing what they called “evidence” of wrongdoing. Along with an army of supporters on X this led to an absolute avalanche of misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories.
Much of this new, supposedly “insider,” information originated from X users searching around on public databases and publishing what they found objectionable (or just didn’t understand). The first big viral moment here was when various users started making claims that USAID was funding Politico, the NYTimes and the BBC. Now, this isn’t true. USAID employees had paid subscriptions to politico and the NYTimes1. USAID did partner with an NGO affiliated with the BBC but unrelated to their newsroom.
Quickly this shifted into a conspiracy theory whereby USAID was responsible for taking American tax dollars and funding left wing / progressive media globally. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban quickly picked up on it saying: "apparently USAID financed ultra-progressive Politico in Brussels and basically the entire left-wing media in Hungary."
Posters / newly deputized internet sleuths on X then shifted to trying to figure out what Chemonics2 is before helpfully being prompted by WikiLeaks to focus their attention on Internews. This USAID implementing partner was responsible for various programs around the world supporting independent media and aiding in counter-disinformation efforts. Reviewing these funding allocations caused the previously Politico-centric conspiracy theory to take on a much more global character. Musk and his followers are now X’ing (?) about how this entire system of global engagement needs to be destroyed and have called USAID a “criminal” organization.
The Guardian reports that the removal of the $268 million dollars of USAID funding to independent media organizations will cause the collapse of many newsrooms and a “surge in propaganda and misinformation” around the world. The United States has been the major donor supporting independent media in Moldova3 - via Internews projects and others. The new rhetoric coming from Musk makes clear that these programs will not continue after the 90 day freeze.
Multiple Ukrainian independent media sites are holding a “48 hours of silence” event from February 11-12 to call attention to this new critical lack of funding and to call on their readers for more support.
In addition, Elon Musk has set his sights on Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFERL) and Voice of America writing on X “shut them down.” It is notable that he was responding to accusations of wrongdoing about these agencies from U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Richard Grenell. I’ve written in the past about Mr. Grenell and his work lobbying for Vladimir Plahotniuc in Washington.
Russia Sees Opportunity…
As Musk and DOGE move through various parts of the Federal Government live X-ing their path of destruction they are clearly being led by their own feedback loops. Users on X will call Musk’s attention to some program or another and then he will return with a judgement “kill it,” “wood chipper,” etc. Often he will claim that he brought this new bit of (mis/dis)information to President Trump’s attention and got permission to take some action.
Sliding into the chaotic cesspool of X are new Russian disinformation campaigns seemingly targeted directly at grabbing Elon’s attention. One slickly produced video alleged that Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and various other Hollywood actors were paid tens of millions of dollars by USAID to travel to Kyiv and meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. The video, which claimed to be from E! news, alleged that this program was designed to stir up support for Ukraine in the global public. The video was then re-posted by Musk and Donald Trump Jr. as part of their ongoing attack against USAID. Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub identified the creators of the video as a Kremlin-linked disinformation threat actor which has previously made content maligning Ukraine. Obviously, it was not from E!
USAID did not in fact pay any celebrities to go to Ukraine leading Ben Stiller to have to deny a Russian disinformation campaign on his X account4.
WikiLeaks, which has long been alleged to have connections to Russian intelligence, clearly put a target on Internews - one of the largest groups fighting Russian disinformation globally. State run propaganda outlet Russia Today (RT) quickly deceptively edited a video of the Internews CEO and posted it on their X account. The editing is meant to suggest that the company has been manipulating media coverage globally in order to benefit from USAID money. In reality, she was talking about the changing trends in Russian disinformation and how to best fight them.
It’s important to realize that the attacks against USAID aren’t just some Russian campaign. Various outlets have reported that Russia, China and various autocrats around the world reacting with surprise and “glee” at the sudden shift of MAGA attention against America’s own global aid and soft power network. Joe Rogan now regularly rails against USAID “corruption” and unaccountable NGOs with no need for Russian talking points. MAGA and the new administration are feeding off of a largely self-radicalized and self-radicalizing movement.
Then again, Tucker Carlson claiming this week that Ukraine is selling half of all American weapons to Mexican cartels clearly shows that he’s been reading RT.
Moldovan Politicians React to… Whatever This Is
It’s objectively difficult to know how to describe what is going on in the US right now. “Constitutional Crisis” seems safe, others have gone for calling it an autocoup. The fact is that things are moving so fast and the sands are shifting so quickly that it is easy to get lost in “the events.” So I’ll go with that, “the events” of the last weeks have produced a series of reactions in Moldova - many of which have themselves been overtaken by “the events.” I’ll start with a summary of political statements and reactions and then move to what we can read into it.
Vasilie Bolea MP of the Renaissance Party (Shor) stated:
"USAID has financed a large number of programs in Moldova over 30 years. We are grateful to American taxpayers for supporting infrastructure projects. However, we can no longer allow an organization recognized as criminal in its country to continue funding projects of the Central Election Commission, the judiciary, the prosecutor's office, the parliament, the media and NGOs,"
He went on to claim that the government is controlled by the USAID / Soros cabal being exposed by Musk and called for treason investigations against PAS politicians.
Former presidential candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo said that USAID had create a “parallel state” and that:
"Now that the US is revealing USAID's methods and global networks of influence, it is obvious that Moldova needs to expand the vetting procedure"
He particularly focused on the need to investigate “investigative media” who he identified as agents of foreign influence.
Socialist Party leader Igor Dodon attacked the process of vetting and justice reform noting that it is partially supported by USAID. He said that Musk’s revelations show that the justice reform is being conducted by an "organized crime group [USAID]" and called on President Sandu to recognize this fact asking if she was “against Trump?” He additionally put the spotlight on NGOs saying that revelations about “USAID, which, as it turns out now, was engaged in state coups all over the world" proved there was a need for an “American style foreign agent’s law” and that Moldova should ban NGOs and civic groups like in Hungary.
Recent presidential candidate and leader of the PSDE Party, Tudor Ulianovschi, called on President Trump to publicize all of USAID’s spending in Moldova saying:
"I have a message for President Trump: Mr. Trump, show me the money? Show us how American money was spent in the Republic of Moldova!"
In his statement he implied that USAID’s money was corruptly taken by NGOs affiliated with the government and not delivered to people really in need. His remarks also echoed Slovakian Prime Minister Fico’s recent statements requesting Trump turn over the names of groups supported in Slovakia that had engaged in “gross interference in the country's internal affairs.” Russian lawmakers have also asked Trump to send them USAID spending information so that the names of collaborators can be turned over to the FSB. It’s worth noting that USAID published all their programs online before Musk deleted the website.
Communist MP Diana Karaman spoke in parliament calling for hearings based on Musk’s claim that USAID is a “criminal organization.” Speaker Igor Grosu dismissed her call, jokingly saying that "Mr. Musk will not be able to come to parliament today." Other, similar attacks by Socialist MPs were parried by PAS MPs in debate who quoted back past statements by Igor Dodon and other Socialists leaders praising the work of USAID.
Vladimir Voronin blamed USAID for the events of April 7th 20095. The main purpose of his statement seemed to be reminding us all that he’s still around.
Ion Chicu reacted to Musk’s claims that USAID was active in creating bioweapons, including COVID-19, calling on the US Embassy to respond. He noted Musk’s posts about USAID being responsible for coups all over the world and acting as a covert element of the CIA saying "USAID finances criminals in our country - that's for sure."
This is only a short overview of what has become a much larger conversation online and even in parliament. In some cases the conversation is moving too fast for even the participants to keep up. One example of this is Igor Dodon’s proposed solution to the “USAID problem” where he calls for the enactment of an “American style foreign agent’s law.” What he really means is a “Russian style foreign agent’s law,” but the point was mooted this week when the Trump administration gutted the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA - more on this below).
In another example, President Sandu was asked whether or not PAS had received funding from USAID. She replied:
"USAID does not finance political parties. There are two organizations in the United States - Democratic and Republican - whose mandate includes support for political parties. The vast majority of political parties in the Republic of Moldova have been trained in these two organizations, this is natural."
In this she refers to the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). IRI and NDI are quasi-NGOs serving as the international wings of their respective parties. They work with the mission of advancing freedom and democracy globally and some of this work is with political parties - providing trainings in campaigning and similar programs.
In her answer Sandu accurately refuted the conspiracy theory that USAID had funded Moldovan political parties. At the same time she walked into a new conspiracy theory where Musk is now posting about NDI, IRI and the larger National Endowment for Democracy (NED) which is all getting sucked into this fever dream on X.
The “events” are moving quickly.
What Are Our Takeaways?
We can quickly see a few patterns and themes in the reactions to “the events” in Moldova. Here’s a quick roundup:
The pro-Russian opposition is having a field day. Anti-USAID talking points, especially those focusing on independent media and civic groups, are being rapidly taken from Musk’s posts and spread in local media. They do not follow all of the MAGA / DOGE attacks but focus clearly on the same topics being pushed by WikiLeaks, Tucker Carlson, RT and other Russian proxies, fellow travelers and useful idiots.
PAS is a bit stuck. Pro-EU parties and politicians that can avoid this topic seem happy to do so. PAS MP’s questioned in parliament and interviews give strong defenses of the support that USAID has brought to Moldova in the past and they do a good job quoting hypocritical politicians past statements back to them. All of this is limited by the fact that the demise and defamation of USAID is largely a one sided argument - there is no counter message or other version of events coming from the US.
Attack USAID, hug Trump. Most pro-Russian politicians will grab at every new juicy conspiracy theory about USAID while at the same time praising Donald Trump.
NGOs in the hot seat. Pro-Russian groups are using “the events” to levy attacks on civil society groups and NGOs, in particular stressing that they must be regulated (aka outlawed, see: Georgia). They are also seeking to wrap the current government in the “NGO” label which Musk is increasingly making toxic on X.
DOGE is a good idea? Outside of the attacks and conspiracies some people are saying - this might be a good thing. Igor Munteanu posted on his facebook that Moldova needs its own DOGE-2.0. Private conversations I’ve had with largely apolitical friends don’t revolve around a constitutional crisis or what has happened at USAID, they look at the Moldovan government and see that PAS’ promises of radical reform haven’t accomplished all they hoped. In a system as bureaucratic as Moldova’s, “burn it all down” is not unappealing to portions of the public.
Where is the US Embassy on This?
You might have noticed Ion Chicu calling for the US Embassy to address the bioweapons claims that Musk is promoting and wondered… what is the Embassy doing?
Not much. Since President Trump’s inauguration the US Embassy Chisinau has posted a few updates on their facebook page - most of which are global State Department press releases. Their page on X is similarly official but mostly quiet.
Posts have invited people to “Learn more about First Lady Melania Trump - her journey, initiatives and impact” but there have been no official statements about “the events.”
It is worth noting that the US Embassy Moldova has been without an ambassador since last summer. Democratic Senator Brian Schatz recently announced that he would hold up all new State Department confirmations until “the events” regarding USAID are undone. This may mean that Moldova will be without a US ambassador for a while.
Obviously USAID has not had any comment either.
Also… Corruption is No Longer Criminal?
Back in December I wrote an article arguing that the greatest challenge for Moldova during the second Trump administration would be the increased influence of “Foreign Agents” in Washington. You can re-read the article for more context (and an excellent book recommendation) but it is fair to say that I undersold the central premise.
This week the new US Attorney General Pam Bondi issued orders gutting the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Under these orders she suspended enforcement of the act as regards almost all paid foreign lobbyists. If you want a primer on how FARA works and why it is important look back to this investigation I published in December tracking one such effort:
This article caused blowback in Moldova with Tarlev’s people writing smear articles against me. It is also the kind of investigation that will no longer be possible as foreign lobbyists will no longer be penalized for failing to make transparency filings.
Then, also this week, President Trump signed an executive order suspending the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In it he paused enforcement of the FCPA for 180 days pending a review citing a past history of “unpredictable” enforcement for actions that are “routine business practices in other nations." The “routine actions” being referred to here are bribes given to non-American officials by US companies.
At the same time there was a blitz of other news regarding corruption. The Justice Department instructed prosecutors to drop their case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. He was being investigated for various crimes including FARA violations including allegedly taking money from the Turkish government. Adams claimed that he was being political persecuted because he disagreed with President Biden’s immigration policy. The case was dropped in such a way that it can be restarted any time - Mayor Adams has since fervently pledged to cooperate with Trump on deportations.
Trump pardoned former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich who was convicted of extorting money from the construction of a children’s hospital and trying to sell an appointment to the US Senate. Meanwhile, Senate Hearings uncovered the fact that the incoming FBI director was paid $25,000 last year by a film company with Kremlin ties. He will soon be confirmed to head the department that would theoretically investigate such activity as well as other instances of Russian payments to American far right activists.
Taken together the New York Times has called these actions an "invitation to corruption."
As I wrote in the December article this all amounts to a major threat for Moldova as elements of American foreign policy are subject to unaccountable foreign lobbying. Actors like Tarlev and Ilan Shor’s other cutouts have a lot more money to spend in Washington than Moldova does.
One person I particularly highlighted as a person to watch was Trump confidant and new Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell. Grenell has previously taken money to promote Vladimir Plahotniuc in Washington and has an alarming record of supporting autocrats in the Balkans. This week we he posted on X railing against USAID claiming that the agency targeted politicians around the world “who aren’t woke.” He cited only one country - Romania - and he tagged the Romanian Prime Minister in the post.
Romanian media have reported that he may have made a 1 day trip to Bucharest this week where he met with Andrew and Tristan Tate among others. This deepens worries about the ties between Romanian candidate Calin Georgescu and the MAGA movement - something I’ve written about before.
In Conclusion…
What a crazy few weeks. Lifetimes seem to have passed and it remains incredibly unclear where things are going. I started this article with a quote from Lenin to emphasize what exactly we’re seeing in the US right now. This is not politics as usual - it is a revolutionary moment.
We don’t know where this revolution and the resultant upending of political norms (and laws) will go but this is all very new. In politics some revolutionary moments come and go quickly, others last decades before a new normal emerges. For now it is enough to say that no past assumptions about the United States should be taken for granted and we will all have to watch closely to understand what may come next.
There is no doubt that this process will have a profound impact on Moldova. I will soon be writing more about the work that USAID has done in this country and why the agency will be sorely missed. Politically, rhetoric is already changing and new fault lines are forming as various political groups try and align themselves with Trump and Musk and “the events.” Where this goes is anyone’s guess right now.
When I wrote that article back in December about FARA I opened by saying that the *last* topic in the world I ever wanted to write on was Donald Trump. Unfortunately it seems that he and his administration will be casting a long shadow on world politics for some time to come.
The New York Times is the nation’s paper of record and is behind a paywall - so lots of people have subscriptions. Politico Pro is a little different. Their subscription product is extremely expensive - around $10,000 / year. It’s like a political version of a Bloomberg console with extremely detailed information about anything going on at just about every level of government and policy. Most of their customers are large corporations tracking energy policies, new regulations, etc. That said, it isn’t unusual for government agencies to be subscribed - and the White House itself has been a subscriber for years including in Trump’s first term.
The company Chemonics is one of the largest USAID implementing partner organizations in the world. DOGE fans have railed online about how a company with a funny name was getting millions and millions of dollars of USAID funding. For anyone aware of how USAID works this is especially frustrating. There was a time when American foreign aid worked much more directly - US diplomats with USAID and precursor institutions were closely involved in running development and aid programs around the world. Over time the Republicans in Congress took aim at this direct model seeing it as too government centric and required private companies to bid on these USAID / development programs. As designed this created a private sector industry responsible for doing most of the on the ground work of American foreign aid. It also led to an additional layer of administrative costs and abstraction. Many people of all political stripes, including the authors of Project 2025, have called for doing away with this private sector model. Now, the DOGE / MAGA Republicans seem unable to untangle the complicated system that their party created and are calling it a vast left wing conspiracy (sigh). Chemonics, for their part, has purged their website of any information about their work globally.
The major donor does not mean the only donor. Newsrooms in Moldova scrambled to understand their exposure to this “freeze” and numbers range from 10% of funding to close to 80%. Most of the best newsrooms have diverse funding from both donors and advertising / subscriptions. Internews itself is not solely dependent on USAID and is still operating with other donor support.
I did not have this on my 2025 bingo card
If you’re interested more in this topic - and how it had nothing to do with USAID - check out this podcast I made last summer covering these historic and tragic events.
Thank you for the very clear overview. More depressing by the day.