A decade later, Hungary donated another 10 million dollars to the “Victims of Communism” in Washington. Before Marion Smith became enamored with Budapest and Hungarian “national conservatism,” the future VOC leader married the daughter of István Stumpf, a justice on the Constitutional Court of Hungary (2010-2019). Twenty five years ago, Viktor Orbán appointed Stumpf as his chief of staff / deputy prime minister (1998-2002). In 2021, Orbán tasked Stumpf with “coordinating the transformation of Hungary’s higher education system.”

[…]

The “Victims of Communism” are not necessarily spearheading the so-called “Orbánization of America,” but they are in the passenger seat. Take for example the Edward Burke Foundation. Its vice president for external affairs, Anna Wellisz, has been a key organizer of the NatCon events. Wellisz, a lobbyist for the government of Poland, has written for Taki’s Magazine, out of which grew the far-right Proud Boys gang. (“I’m a proud Western chauvinist,” declare new members. For CSS, it goes without saying.)

(For those of us unaware, Viktor Orbán is a Hungarian head of state who admires the Axis politician Miklós Horthy and is protective of neofascist rallies.)