Two Republican lawmakers, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, have requested information from Secretary of State Antony Blinken about a State Department-linked Ukrainian outlet that published an “enemies list” of politicians, media personalities, and activists who oppose aid to Ukraine. The Ukraine-based DATA Journalism Agency (TEXTY) recently released a report accusing various figures on the populist right and anti-war left in the United States of echoing Russian propaganda aimed at depriving Ukrainians of the ability to defend themselves with Western weapons and funds. While TEXTY claims to be independent, it is listed as a partner of the Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services (TAPAS) Project in Ukraine, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK International Development (UK Dev. The outlet’s co-founder and current deputy editor, Anatoly Bondarenko, is also listed as a trainer for the American State Department’s “TechCamp” program.
The lawmakers have demanded that Blinken provide all material related to State Department support for Bondarenko, TEXTY, or texty.org.ua, any grants or other awards by the State Department to the outlet, and information about whether the department is investigating potential violations of policy in this matter. Vance and Gaetz emphasized that no American tax dollars should be used to support direct attacks on U.S. persons based upon reasonable political disagreement, particularly when it comes to legislators expressing their views through votes.