BAD ACTORS: Politicians, pundits, spies and chaos agents all have ExploreTalent in common

The revelations that Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) modeled in her past aren’t as questionable as who she supposedly modeled for — a company connected to many recognizable faces of the GOP – from pundits to influencers, chaos agents, and yes, politicians. These were all previous clients of “talent” agency ExploreTalent, and all connected in one way or another to pushing the big lie. The owner of ExploreTalent built a fortune with Aztec Audiotext – a phone sex operation.

Geopolitical analyst Eric Garland pointed out on Twitter:

Discovering that seditionist Lauren Boebert has the same kind of Explore Talent modeling profile as Rudy Giuliani "voter fraud witness" Melissa Carone, I get less interested in her antics and more interested in "Who paid to recruit cyphers to overthrow the government?" pic.twitter.com/YjDO2cAENF

— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) January 29, 2021

In 2019, Boebert seemingly came out of nowhere, confronting Beto O’Rourke during a Colorado Town Hall about his comment on confiscating AR-15s. A statement he made the month after 23 innocent people were gunned down at a Walmart in O’Rourke’s hometown of El Paso. According to Fox News, Boebert drove three hours to confront Beto, driving with a gun at her hip. Shortly after confronting the 2020 Presidential candidate – she was interviewed on-air, telling Fox News:

“Shame on him for coming to Colorado to expound upon our tragedies — those are our victims and he came here to paint a picture for his own campaign trail and really, shame on you, sir, for doing that.”

Familiar faces like Daily Wire host and former Turning Point USA spokesperson Candace Owens, Outkick, and former Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren have also been connected to the ExploreTalent site. And both were relatively unknown when profiled on the ExploreTalent.com site. Like Boebert, their rise in the GOP realm hit lighting speed during the Trump administration, going all in on right-wing narratives and gaslighting the American public on everything from the coronavirus to the Big Lie.

Owens appeared on Fox News not long after abandoning her former liberal views and “coming out” as conservative in a YouTube video.

"The Democrats have been good at wiping away history and re-writing it” –@RealCandaceO talks about joining NRA which she says started as a civil rights organization pic.twitter.com/gqSMUKKdoU

— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) March 4, 2018

Other, relatively lesser-known “stars” have been tied to anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown protests and associated with pushing far-right propaganda and bigoted, racist, homophobic rhetoric. They all shared in common things like youth, point of view, purported ideology, and fame — from appearing on right-wing media outlets like Fox to appearing at Turning Point USA and GOP events like CPAC. People with little to no experience in the areas where they found fame and fortune amongst the Republican elite.

Anti-Muslim far-right political pundit Scott Pressler at CPAC:

Political Activist Scott Pressler (@ScottPresler) Full Interview with RSBN's own Grace Saldana (@gracesaldanaa) at CPAC 2022 in FLhttps://t.co/zbEiNX7BY9

— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) February 25, 2022

Around the same time a connection between Explore Talent and various high-profile right-wing individuals became public, Business Insider reported that former Trump Campaign Advisor Corey Lewandowski admitted that actors were paid to appear at the launch. Activist Chad Loder tweeted examples of what’s called “astroturfing”:

The practice of "astroturfing" (hiring people to participate in rallies or events to lend the appearance of grassroots support) is often contracted out to political consulting firms, but it's also been used by foreign state actors who want to sow discord. https://t.co/6yDVse6jgJ

— Chad Loder (@chadloder) August 3, 2021

National Justice’s Eric Striker reported that Explore Talent’s owner is Israeli businessman, Amiram Moshe Shafrir, according to the website Lipstick Alley. Shafrir and his wife have been tied to several businesses, from phone sex to dating sites, and several lawsuits, including one against convicted conman Daniel Nicherie, who allegedly defrauded Shafrir out of $40 million – and then sued him for him. In the lawsuit filed in the Central District of California’s District Court, plaintiff Daniel Nicherie accused Ami Shafrir, his wife Sarit, and several others of Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organization (RICO) violations – including money laundering, small billing fraud, and identity theft. Nicherie also accused the couple of being associated with the Jewish Mafia.

These may be baseless accusations, but it does beg questions as to how a website connected to the so-called “erotic calls” couple, and whose owners were victims of a $40 million fraud, became a “hunting ground” for Republican operatives looking to sow discord and division among the masses, entrap and blackmail their rivals and launch the careers at least a dozen individuals who would rise to fame in the same short span of time and be involved in Republican disruption, chaos, and disinformation.

Aside from using “talent” from Explore Talent to infiltrate the young GOP political scene, the agency’s models have also been used to compromise national security. The Daily Mail reported that ex-British spy Richard Seddon – and associate of Blackwater mercenary Erik Prince – is connected to the hiring of Explore Talent models,  Anna Khait (formerly of Survivor) and Tarah Price, at the urging of Project Veritas to seduce national security advisor, General H.R. McMaster.

Ukrainian-born businessman and ex-ally of Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas – connected the dots:

Oh, it’s a whole thing. pic.twitter.com/IVpdZCgS30

— Lev Parnas & Igor Fruman LLC💎 (@KurisuS) September 21, 2021

In the past five years, we have seen performance art and theatrics overtake the right-wing political landscape. Congresspeople like Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA), have embraced the camera more than their duties to the American people. The spreading of disinformation and misinformation has become commonplace and acceptable in an impulsive society craving drama. I guess in that aspect, ExploreTalent gave those who signed up exactly what they wanted.

Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick