THREAD: What do Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and Elaine Chao have in common? They were all paid by a Marxist-Islamist Iran group that was designated as terrorist until 2012.
No, this is not a joke.
Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) was founded by leftist Islamists to oppose the western-backed Pahlavi, and participated in his 1979 overthrow. Khomeini barred MEK afterwards. MEK was implicated in multiple bombings, including that of Americans, and remained an openly armed group until 2003.
Since they got de-listed as a terrorist organization in 2012 on procedural grounds, MEK and their fronts have been actively recruiting US politicians selling themselves as a moderate alternative to Khomeini. But RAND Corporation says MEK meets the qualifications for a cult, citing criteria such as forcing their members to work 16+ hour days and forced divorces.
Polls of the Iranian-American community shows that they do NOT accept Rajavi, MeK’s leader, as legitimate, with a 46-point net disapproval – numbers nearly as bad as the existing regime.
As Pence’s former Chief of Staff, Marc Short, has already weighed against Trump deal, it’s helpful to recall this.
Receipts below. As always, patience as I pull the thread together.👇
🚨 THREAD: What do Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and Elaine Chao have in common? They were all paid by a Marxist-Islamist Iran group that was designated as terrorist until 2012.
No, this is not a joke.
Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) was founded by leftist Islamists to oppose… pic.twitter.com/oX7DpDksUp
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
Jafarzadeh is the registrant contact on FARA Registration #6171 for NCRI-US for Iran, on behalf of MeK. pic.twitter.com/1HQrSVsc7s
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
Elaine Chao – $50,000.
John Bolton – $40,000.
Many, many politicians involved. pic.twitter.com/YhfdUpTMWG— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
So, are MeK actually freedom fighters? The Iranian community doesn’t seem to think so. Repeated polling shows unfavorables comparable to the existing regime. pic.twitter.com/inT27eA0PS
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
How the denial works: a three-entity structure.
NCRI-US (the DC office Jafarzadeh runs) — FARA registered. The filing reports $0 in speaker fees and $0 in payments to individuals.
NCRI Paris/Albania (the foreign principal) — this is what’s listed on Pence’s financial… pic.twitter.com/6vZqrlvXQL
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
MEK’s entire value proposition is regime change. They’re selling themselves as “the democratic alternative”; Rajavi is “president-elect” of a government-in-waiting.
Trump’s current Iran posture is negotiation, not regime change. (Side note – IMO, true regime change is probably… pic.twitter.com/ernKKIvmVs
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
Pence’s disclosure report: https://t.co/7v01P4yc8x pic.twitter.com/BYGgtcVq00
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
Yep, MEK are Marxist-Islamists. I don’t know how else you’d describe their ideology. pic.twitter.com/jJ3Bt1bC1F
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
That MEK has disapproval ratings almost as high as IRGC among Iranian-Americans is what sold me.
These are exiles who still have family in Iran and still talk to them. MEK is still ran by the same cult family that it has always been. They just started paying off US politicians.
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026
Yep. I’m assuming a bunch of Republicans and Democrats alike didn’t know any better than to accept a speaking fee after their colleagues reassuring them, “yeah, MEK is good guys.”
The left-wing reported on MEK critically, but because they have a vested interest in Obama’s JCPOA…
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) June 15, 2026