Oregon — In a Facebook post, Libertarian congressional candidate Joseph Lehman shared a Right Now Oregon article about the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) announcement of a new Anti-Semitism Advisory Committee. The committee, chaired by Leo Terrell, is tasked exclusively with developing domestic strategies to combat rising antisemitism in the United States. It provides recommendations to the Attorney General on coordinated responses to antisemitic discrimination and hate crimes in American communities, schools, and local institutions. The committee is intended to support policy efforts stemming from Executive Order 13899 issued by President Trump during his first term in 2019. The initiative has no connection to Israel, foreign policy, lobbying organizations, or international relations.
Despite the purely domestic focus of the DOJ announcement, Lehman used the post to assert that “being critical of a foreign government and rejecting foreign influence is not antisemitic.” He further claimed that “all the right-wing media are playing into the antisemitism claims from Israel now that the people are connecting the dots.”
This rhetorical pivot creating a non sequitur between domestic issues of antisemitism and foreign affairs raises questions as to what connection Lehman draws between them. The advisory committee’s mandate, to address antisemitic hate crimes and discrimination within American communities, schools, and institutions bears no logical relation to debates over foreign lobbying or geopolitical criticism.
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Later in an exchange in the comments on that post candidate Joseph Lehman went on to explicitly endorse fringe conspiracy theories about Israel after engaging with a user promoting classic tropes about Israel controlling American politics and being a subversive force.
The exchange began when user Jeff Adair, son of Republican CD5 Candidate Patti Adair, commented “Israel runs the show” on Lehman’s post. Lehman responded writing: “Jeff, it’s time to flip the script. No more will we stand by and let our country be purchased out from under our feet.” He added a personal aside noting that Adair’s mother was one of his political opponents before concluding with “Cheers!”
Adair then escalated with explicit conspiracy claims, stating: “Israel killed Charlie Kirk/JFK and help do 9/11. They are the biggest threat inside America at this time… To many people on the right have been brainwashed by foxnews over the last 40 years.”
Rather than distancing himself, Lehman replied directly: “Jeff, you’re absolutely correct.” He went further, offering to connect privately and providing his campaign email, saying he would “love to connect with you if you’ve ever got some free time!”
Distinguishing Legitimate Political Debate and Criticism from Timeless Antisemitic Tropes
Many Americans today express frustration with foreign lobbying, the influence of special-interest groups in Washington, and U.S. foreign policy decisions that seem to them to be disconnected from everyday American concerns. A recent YouGov poll showed 53% of Americans disapprove of the war with Iran.
In an environment saturated with intense focus on Israel, some on legitimate policy disagreements and some constituting very real antisemitism, it can feel plausible to some people that “Israel” or “Zionist influence” secretly pulls the strings behind major events or controls American politics. This conspiratorial framing is not always motivated by hatred; for many, it arises from a sincere desire to understand why the system seems broken and who benefits from it.
Some individuals adopt these ideas out of genuine misunderstanding. They may see the theories as simply “connecting dots” about foreign influence and do not realize how closely they mirror antisemitic tropes that have historically preceded very real harm to Jews. Ilene S. Cohen, Ph.D. explains in a piece on the psychology of mass antisemitism that this kind of thinking “generally arise[s] from a need to make sense of complex world events. They appeal to our cognitive biases, such as the tendency to see patterns where none exist or to attribute intent to random events. They offer a simple explanation for complex phenomena, bringing comfort to some.”
Others, however, are deliberate bad actors who intentionally repackage age-old antisemitism in the more socially acceptable language of “anti-Zionism” or “criticism of Israel,” using conspiracy thinking as cover to advance prejudice.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance shows there is an important line between open, evidence-based criticism of any government’s policies or officials, including Israel’s, and grand conspiracy theories that attribute unrelated historical tragedies to a single, seemingly all-powerful actor.
Claims that Israel orchestrated or assisted in the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Charlie Kirk, helped carry out the 9/11 attacks, or secretly dominates U.S. politics and media have been thoroughly examined and debunked by official investigations, historians, and law enforcement.
The JFK assassination was exhaustively reviewed by the Warren Commission and later inquiries with no credible Israeli link, the most recent major release of more than 77,000 pages of previously withheld records occurred on March 18, 2025, under President Trump’s directive.
These documents, now publicly available via the National Archives, provide further details on Cold War-era CIA operations (particularly in Cuba and Mexico) but contain no credible evidence linking Israel or Mossad to the assassination and do not contradict the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone; the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda and documented by the 9/11 Commission and declassified official reporting; and prosecutors point to evidence that Charlie Kirk’s 2025 assassination was the work of a domestic perpetrator, no allegations of foreign influence have been issued.
An article from the University of Pennsylvania addresses the present challenge noting that “[i]n recent decades, experts have sought to define antisemitism in a way that distinguishes it from criticism of Israel while also acknowledging how the two can intersect with each other.” The problem arises when these theories substitute Israel, a predominately Jewish nation, or Jews collectively, for the classic antisemitic stereotype of a secret, malevolent cabal that orchestrates world events and exerts hidden control over governments, media, finance, and society.
This pattern directly revives longstanding myths of Jewish world domination and collective guilt, patterns that echo the fabricated Protocols of the Elders of Zion and centuries-old blood libels that have repeatedly fueled discrimination, persecution, and violence against Jewish communities.
The question becomes if these claims are treated as being true, that Israel is a corrosive and insidious force manipulating American politics, at the level of being involved in assassinating a President and popular political figure, what actions would that justify against not just Israel but those American citizens who have connections to the nation or support it, such as Jews, whether they agree or not with the current government, who support Israel on historical or religious grounds?
Given centuries of historical precedent, and recent increases in antisemitism including harassment, property destruction, and lethal violence, this challenge of distinguishing intentions, and intense focus on Israel and Jews causes a substantial amount of concern for many Jews and others concerned with the rise of antisemitism.
Some people see the use of the term antisemitism in public discourse as overreaching and a deliberate attempt to silence criticism and debate. Those on the other side see terms like “anti-Israel”, “anti-Zionism”, and “criticism of Israel” too often used as masks for real antisemitism as well as cases of an incautious blurring of boundaries.
Regardless of intent, the effect can sometimes be the same: sweeping generalizations over specific criticism, unevidenced claims of Israel posing an existential threat, and flattening complex political and institutional dynamics into simple good vs bad narratives, cause deep concern among Jewish Americans, who carry the history of how these types of narratives have been weaponized against Jews in the past.
A Washington Post poll from fall 2025 found more Jews have recently been actively hiding signs of Jewish identity. Another 2025 poll found that “[n]early one in five (18%) were either the victim of an assault, experienced threat of physical attack, or experienced verbal harassment due to their Jewish identity in the past year, while over one-third (36%) witnessed actual or threatened antisemitic violence.”
This raises the question of where does evidence-based criticism of government policy end and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that invoke longstanding antisemitic tropes begin, and what are the implications of that boundary for open public debate? The question then is not to silence sensible debate, but as a necessary distinction to preserve honest discussion while protecting communities from the very real dangers these recycled myths can create.
Far Reaching Claims in a Press Release
In his May 21, 2026 press release, issued the day after the Oregon primary, Libertarian candidate Joseph Lehman urged Congress to ban foreign lobbying by groups such as AIPAC and those registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The release specifically claimed that Rep. Janelle Bynum “has already received more than $9 million from AIPAC alone.” Federal Election Commission records directly contradict this assertion.
There have been no direct contributions from AIPAC PAC, or affiliated entities totaling anywhere near $9 million, to Bynum or her campaign committee. The largest documented spending from a group which may have connections to AIPAC or other pro-Israel PACs, though describes themselves as, “focused on recruiting, training, and electing Democrats with a background in science to public office”, is the 314 Action Fund which contributed approximately $136,000 to Bynum’s campaign in total since 2023 per FEC data.
Bynum’s total receipts were roughly $7.5 million in the 2024 cycle and $3.13 million in the current cycle as of late May 2026, meaning Lehman’s figure would imply that more than 85% of her entire fundraising came from AIPAC, an amount unsupported by any available campaign finance data.
| Lehman’s Claim | What FEC Data Shows | The Discrepancy |
| Rep. Janelle Bynum “has already received more than $9 million from AIPAC alone.” (May 21, 2026 press release) | • No direct contributions from AIPAC PAC (or affiliated entities) to Bynum or her campaign committee • AIPAC-aligned 314 Action Fund contributed approximately $136,000 • Bynum total receipts: ~$7.5 million (2024 cycle) + ~$3.13 million (current cycle as of late April 2026) • OpenSecrets does not list Bynum as a recipient of pro-Israel funding • TrackAIPAC references 314 Action Fund but does not support a $9 million figure, total $136,000 | Lehman’s $9 million claim is unsupported by Federal Election Commission records and is vastly overstated. Even generously including the largest potential AIPAC-aligned expenditure, documented support totals less than 2% of the claimed amount. The assertion implies that more than 85% of all funds raised by Bynum as a congressional candidate came from AIPAC, a figure contradicted by official filings. |
Israeli and Pro-Israel Lobbying in Context
An analysis by HonestReporting provides more context on the reality of AIPAC spending. AIPAC is not a foreign entity but a domestic American lobbying organization funded and staffed entirely by U.S. citizens. In 2024, AIPAC ranked roughly 74th among all domestic lobbyists, with direct lobbying expenditures of approximately $3.5 million. For context, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $96 million, the National Association of Realtors $86 million, major pharmaceutical interests $60 million, and Amazon $50 million.
Taking a wider look, Open Secrets lists Pro-Israel as an interest group for political spending in the 2024 cycle as 8th on list at $54,090,251, with the top interest groups being Retired ($368,112,606), Securities/Invest ($113,732,060), and Lawyers/Law Firms ($92,085,522). Data from Open Secrets shows the top countries for foreign lobbying based on spending between 2016 – 2025 with China ($562,676,323), Japan ($504,111,211), and Liberia ($432,968,270) as the top 3. Israel is number 10 at $215,168,616.
These figures illustrate that while Israeli lobbying, as well as AIPAC and pro-Israel advocacy are substantive, they operate within a much larger ecosystem of domestic and foreign lobbying that includes far bigger players. Singling out Israel and pro-Israel American organizations as a uniquely corrosive “foreign influence” ignores this broader context while using rhetoric that is not typically applied, especially with such persistence and focus, to other lobbying groups or foreign countries.
Lehman’s Response
When contacted for comment, Joseph Lehman stated that he “reject[s] antisemitism entirely” and insisted his reply of “Jeff, you’re absolutely correct” referred only to the commenter’s broader frustration about Israel’s influence in American politics. He nevertheless affirmed that he believes Americans are “justified and right to be suspicious of Israel’s potential negative involvement” in the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Charlie Kirk as well as the September 11 attacks, while adding that the government “has lied to” the public about the facts of these events. He stopped short of endorsing the specific conspiracy claims as proven facts, noting he “cannot claim certainty” about allegations “not conclusively proven with publicly available evidence.”
Regarding the Facebook exchange you referenced, my agreement was with the broader frustration he stated about Israel’s overall influence over our political system. I absolutely believe Americans are watching their government become increasingly controlled by both foreign lobbies and massive corporate PACs.
That concern applies to many forms of influence in Washington, but I do believe the Israeli government and pro Israel lobbying networks currently hold an extraordinary level of influence within American politics compared to most foreign interests. I believe that influence has had a negative effect on American foreign policy, public discourse, and our ability to put American interests first. That I stand by.
I want to be careful and factual regarding specific allegations surrounding events like JFK, 9/11, and Charlie Kirk incidents mentioned. I do believe people are justified and right to be suspicious of Israel’s potential negative involvement in these events, however I cannot claim certainty about allegations that have not been conclusively proven with publicly available evidence. I do believe we’ve been lied to by the government regarding the facts involved with the referenced incidents.
Another thing I stand by without hesitation is the broader principle that Americans have every right to question foreign influence in our government, including influence connected to Israel, without immediately being smeared as antisemitic for doing so.
Regarding my comments about the DOJ Anti-Semitism Advisory Committee, my point was not that the committee itself was secretly tied to Israel or created for that purpose. My point was that in today’s political climate, accusations of antisemitism are regularly used to shut down any criticism of the Israeli government or criticism of pro Israel lobbying efforts inside the United States. Too often in modern history, antisemitism is wrongfully defined as being critical of the Israeli government and its actions.
Lehman also acknowledged that his May 21, 2026 press release claim, that Rep. Janelle Bynum had received “more than $9 million from AIPAC alone”, “should have been more specific,” but he provided no documentation, alternative figure, or supporting evidence behind his original figure. Instead, he directed further inquiry to “an independent journalist” to investigate the matter, sidestepping a lack of evidence for his own far-reaching claim.
As for Congresswoman Bynum and campaign funding, my broader point remains the same even if my wording should have been more specific. My concern is the massive amount of money and influence being directed into American elections by networks of pro Israel PACs, affiliated organizations, and aligned donors. Public campaign finance records, independent trackers, and investigative reporting all show substantial overlap between major PAC networks and pro Israel political spending operations, even when funds move indirectly through multiple organizations. To find all of the many pieces of information that points to the massive amounts of money flowing from AIPAC and similar pro Israel lobbies to Bynum’s campaign, I’d recommend hiring an independent journalist to investigate further.
He maintained that criticism of foreign governments and pro-Israel lobbying networks is legitimate and distinct from antisemitism, arguing that accusations of antisemitism are frequently used as a “political weapon” to stifle debate.
There is a very important distinction between genuine antisemitism and criticism of a foreign government. Unfortunately, those lines are often intentionally blurred in media and political discourse. I believe that hurts everyone, including Jewish Americans, because it weakens the seriousness of real antisemitism by turning the accusation into a political weapon against dissent or criticism of foreign policy.
I distinguish legitimate criticism from antisemitic conspiracy theories very simply. Criticism of governments, lobbying groups, foreign influence, campaign spending, or public policy is protected political speech and part of a healthy republic. Attacking people based on religion or ethnicity is wrong and unacceptable. My criticism is directed at governments, political organizations, and systems of influence. It is not directed at Jewish people and never will be.
Candidate Patti Adair’s Response
Right Now Oregon reached out to Patti Adair‘s campaign for comment and to inquire about any role her son may have in the campaign. She issued the following statement in response.
I love my son, but as is the case in many families across our country, we do not see eye-to-eye on everything. After being made aware of his comments, I spoke with my son to express my strong disagreement. Further, I asked for him to delete his comments.
I disavow the comments that were made. They in no way, shape, or form, or reflect my own personal views nor those of my campaign. My son does not hold a position on this campaign and speaks only for himself. I strongly condemn antisemitism in all forms as well as any efforts to distort history and tragic events such as 9/11 or the assassinations of JFK and Charlie Kirk.
Right now, our country is sharply divided. As Oregonians face mounting challenge in their everyday lives, Washington D.C. is paralyzed by extremism, obstructionism, and partisanship. More than ever, the 5th Congressional District needs a Congresswoman who will bring people together, tackle difficult problems, and deliver real results. That was my focus when I launched this campaign, that is my focus today, and it will remain my focus every day from now until November 3rd.
The comments were no longer visible on the post when RNO checked after receiving this response.
Statement from the Libertarian Party of Oregon
The Libertarian Party of Oregon issued a statement in response to a request for comment. Chair Sonja Feintech stated that the party does not censure or control the speech of its members, declaring, “we do not censure or control our members speech as we are strong proponents of the 1st amendment.” The party noted that Joseph Lehman “is free to speak however he pleases as an individual” and “is not currently a LPO candidate but will be seeking our nomination at our July Convention for Oregon’s fifth congressional district.” Because Lehman had not made the statements in his official capacity as chair of the Linn County Libertarians, the LPO said it saw “no reason to intervene.”
Mr. Lehman is free to speak however he pleases as an individual and is not currently a LPO candidate but will be seeking our nomination at our July Convention for Oregons fifth congressional district. As is the case with Republican and Democratic candidates seeking the nominations of their respective parties, Mr. Lehman is entitled to say whatever he likes whether or not his statements align with the Libertarian Party’s platforms and resolutions.
Any officer or committee member of the LPO and its affiliates are free to opine publicly without interference from the state party as Mr. Lehman has not made any official statements on behalf of the Linn County affiliate in his official capacity as chair I see no reason to intervene.
On policy, the party reaffirmed its non-interventionist foreign policy, stating that it “condemn[s] the influence of ALL foreign-linked lobbying groups, including AIPAC,” and supports “full transparency of all foreign-linked political spending” along with “a return to a foreign policy of peace and commerce.” The LPO described its position as “truly America first.”
Other Local Political Responses
Right Now Oregon reached out to the Chairs of the Republican and Democratic county parties and fifth congressional district for comment, as local party officials tend to be closest to the grassroots to understand and express local sentiment. As of publication neither the Democrats with CD5 or Linn County had responded to the request for comment. Jon Wright, Chair of Linn County and CD5 Republicans responded in his capacity as CD5 Chair issuing the following statement:
The rhetoric on display in this exchange — conspiracy theories targeting a foreign ally, claims of shadowy control over American elections and media, and the dehumanizing framing that follows — is exactly the kind of language that normalizes political violence. We have seen where that road leads. The Republicans of CD5 condemn it, and we call on all candidates in this race to reject it.
Patti Adair has denounced these posts and requested they be removed, that response reflects exactly the kind of representation sorely missing in CD5 today.
This race is about who will best represent the people of the district. I have zero doubts that person is Patti Adair, and the Republicans of CD5 are proud to support her.
Careful Evaluation by Voters
Joseph Lehman’s public statements and subsequent responses raise significant questions about the boundary between legitimate criticism of foreign policy and the endorsement of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. When confronted with his explicit agreement that Israel was responsible for the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Charlie Kirk as well as involvement in the September 11 attacks, Lehman did not retract or clarify his position. Instead, he affirmed that Americans are “justified and right to be suspicious” of Israeli involvement in those events while offering no supporting evidence.
He similarly defended his earlier linkage of a purely domestic Department of Justice initiative to concerns about foreign influence and acknowledged that his claim of more than $9 million in AIPAC contributions to Rep. Janelle Bynum “should have been more specific,” without providing documentation or a corrected figure. Federal Election Commission records show no support for the original assertion.
If Lehman is successful in securing the Libertarian Party’s nomination for CD5 it will be up to voters in the district to carefully evaluate Lehman’s public statements on this occasion along with his other statements and positions, and his response when confronted with them. Ultimately, they will decide whether he or either Janelle Bynum or Patti Adair possess the evidence-based judgment and discernment required of a member of Congress.
This article was written by Shawnn Hartley, M.A.
Shawnn’s journalism and research with Right Now Oregon focuses on civic affairs, public policy, and community impact stories. With a background in social services, program management and evaluation, data analysis, and state government, he focuses on clear, evidence-based reporting addressing complex issues.
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