Ukrainian-American businessman, billionaire and pornographer Leonid Radvinsky, who owns around 75 percent of OnlyFans, along with his wife, donated more than $11 million to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. This is according to the investigative journalism outlet The Lever.
Radvinsky reportedly donated under the pseudonym "Mr. Anonymous Anonymous." Radvinsky denied either donating or pledging $11 million to AIPAC, but when confronted with the internal donor list by The Lever, Radvinsky stopped responding to requests for comments and did not deny being "Mr. Anonymous Anonymous."
Founded in 1963, AIPAC is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States and its main goal is to influence U.S. government policy to be more pro-Israel, and this includes getting pro-Israel politicians elected and making sure that any member of Congress who has even the mildest criticism of Israeli government policy be dethroned.
Ladvinsky is just one of dozens of donors who have helped AIPAC raise more than $90 million since Oct. 7. Other individuals who have donated at least $1 million since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza include WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, hedge fund manager Paul Singer and billionaire investor and Democratic megadonor Haim Saban.
Pro-Israel lobby provides funding to 60% of Congress
In 2022, AIPAC announced the creation of an affiliated super PAC – the United Democracy Project (UDC) – that would directly participate in elections. Since then, AIPAC has been pouring millions of dollars into Congress. Of the $90 million AIPAC has received in fundraising, more than $41 million went directly to the UDC. AIPAC even hailed 2023 as a "record" fundraising year.
According to government watchdog group Open Secrets, from 2023 until January 2024, 324 members of Congress – 33 senators and 291 representatives – received money from pro-Israel lobbying groups like AIPAC. This means that 33 percent of the Senate and 66 percent of the House of Representatives, or 60 percent of the entirety of Congress, is funded and influenced by the pro-Israel lobby. (Related: BLOOD MONEY: Here are the TOP 10 POLITICIANS taking influence money from ISRAEL.)
Of the 324 members of Congress who have received funding from the pro-Israel lobby, 194 are Democrats, 130 are Republicans and two are independents – Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Angus King of Maine.
Of these, 10 senators and 11 representatives – 14 Democrats and seven Republicans – received more than $100,000. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) received the most funding, with a whopping $1.087 million received from the pro-Israel lobby.
Menendez is followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who got $461,663 from the pro-Israel lobby; and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who received $392,234 and $365,200, respectively.
AIPAC setting its sights on all critics of Israeli policy in Congress
AIPAC is setting its sights on removing the harshest critics of Israel's offensive on Gaza, either at the primaries or in the general election in November. These include Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the latter currently being the only Palestinian American member of the House of Representatives and only the third in the House's history.
Other representatives like Reps. Summer Lee (D-PA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO) have also been met with strong primary challengers who are expected to receive a lot of AIPAC funding.
Many of these representatives are facing serious challenges. Lee – who already defeated a challenger in 2022 and received $4 million from the UDC – is struggling with fundraising. One pro-Israeli donor has allegedly even offered to donate $20 million to anybody interested in running against Tlaib.
An analysis by the Guardian found that members of Congress who were pro-Israeli received more donations from the Israel lobby. Those who were more supportive of the Israeli response to the Oct. 7 attack received $127,000 on average, compared to the $26,000 received by those who were not supportive of Israel's indiscriminate bombing campaign on Gaza.
Fear of angering the pro-Israel lobby has silenced even the mildest criticism of Israel. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), one of the most vocal critics of AIPAC in Congress, said last November that he did not "give a f--- about AIPAC," labeling it a "cancer" in U.S. politics who takes "dark money" and funnels it into primaries, often at levels exceeding incumbent spending, and across a high number of races.
This strategy has paid dividends since Israel was able to receive a $14 billion aid package from Congress last November – at around the same time when House Speaker Mike Johnson received $95,000 from AIPAC. Pocan fears that this propensity for spending could convince other powerful lobbies to act similarly during primaries and general elections, which he warned could be a "deathblow to democracy."
"If outside groups – especially in primaries where so much less money is spent – decide to purchase elections and make them auctions, that really will change the character of Congress in a very negative way," said Pocan.
Watch this clip from the Next News Network discussing how AIPAC has effectively declared war against "The Squad," a group of progressive Democrats in the House of Representatives who have voiced their concern over Israel's indiscriminate killing of civilians.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Pro-Israel PAC to spend $100M to unseat Congress members fighting for Palestinian human rights.
Republicans call for TikTok ban due to pro-Palestine content surpassing views of pro-Israel posts.
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