Conservative activist CJ Pearson proudly touted his appearance last week at the GOP midterm convention in Texas — writing that it was a “pleasure to be in MAGA Country” — but on Sunday, it emerged that he'd quietly registered as a foreign agent that very same day.
Pearson was one of countless MAGA influencers who attended last week’s GOP convention, having risen to prominence when he was 12 years old in 2015 after publishing a video critical of former President Barack Obama.
Pearson's celebratory post — which included a photograph of himself at the convention wearing a cowboy hat — drew scorn after investigative journalist Scott Stedman flagged a telling detail on Sunday: that the MAGA activist had registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) within hours of writing it.
“Pearson registered as a foreign agent for an Israeli tech/drone company the day this was posted. $20k/month,” Stedman wrote Sunday in a social media post on X to his more than 120,000 followers.
According to Pearson’s FARA registration form, he entered into an agreement with the Israeli drone company XTEND for $20,000 a month. The form lists Pearson’s services for XTEND as "developing messaging, conducting media outreach” and “supporting coalition-building efforts.”
“Must be easier to get around without having to carry a soul, a conscience, OR a brain, Mr Foreign Agent,” wrote veteran broadcaster Keith Olbermann Monday in a social media post on X. “Also the hat looks like s--- on you.”
Pearson’s celebratory post was also hit with a “Community Note,” X’s user-generated fact-checking service, which informed viewers that Pearson was “a registered foreign agent of Israel.”
“The community note. Brutal,” wrote James Li, an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker.
And Jackie Singh, an investigative journalist and cybersecurity researcher, called Pearson a “very confused young man.”
Pearson has registered under FARA in the past, registering on behalf of the government of the Bahamas earlier this year.