Internal rancour has gripped the US NGO National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a CIA cutout responsible for fermenting political discontent in countries regarded as adversaries by Washington. It’s perhaps best known for helping to foment the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine, a country that its founder Carl Gershman labelled “the biggest prize.”

The debacle has resulted in two senior officials being fired and a “civil war” erupting between older neoconservatives and younger management – which the former accuses of being too “woke” – according to documents obtained by The Grayzone.

The scandal was sparked after then newly-appointed NED vice-president for communications broke ranks by engaging with journalists the organisation had previously shunned. Leslie Aun took exception to the Grayzone’s portrayal of the organization as CIA proxy, and initiated a call with the outlet’s Max Blumenthal and Alex Rubinstein, which it published in May 2023.