Q postings emerged in late October 2017 on 4chan as a new iteration of an earlier wave of anonymous “insider” personas that had already framed the 2016 election as an intelligence and counter‑intelligence struggle.
Before Q, accounts such as “FBIAnon,” “CIAAnon,” and similar handles claimed to be high‑level analysts with inside knowledge of investigations into Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, predicting her downfall if Donald Trump won.
These early “Anon” figures helped habituate a politically engaged online audience to the idea that hidden patriots within the security state were leaking coded truths on fringe boards, setting the stage for Q’s later claims to hold Q‑level clearance and to speak from within a clandestine pro‑Trump operation.
In this milieu, former State Department official and psychological‑operations specialist Steve Pieczenik released a widely circulated YouTube video on November 1, 2016, in which he alleged that Hillary and Bill Clinton had orchestrated a “civilian coup” by capturing key institutions such as the White House, Justice Department, FBI, CIA, and the courts.
Pieczenik asserted that “patriots” in the military and intelligence community had responded with a “counter‑coup” using information, asserting that figures like Julian Assange had been given emails to expose Clinton‑world corruption and prevent her from taking power.
This narrative of a behind‑the‑scenes struggle—good insiders using informational warfare against a corrupt establishment—mapped neatly onto the “white hats” vs. “deep state” frame that Q would later codify and expand.
Parallel to this, former Marine Corps intelligence officer and ex‑CIA case officer Robert David Steele became a prominent advocate for “open‑source intelligence,” arguing that the U.S. intelligence system should be reoriented toward transparent, citizen‑accessible information streams.
Steele publicly urged that the president establish a direct, largely unmediated channel of communication to the American people, bypassing what he portrayed as corrupt or captured media and bureaucratic filters.
References
CSIS. 2021. “Examining Extremism: QAnon.” Center for Strategic and International Studies, June 9. https://www.csis.org/blogs/examining-extremism/examining-extremism-qanon.%5B1%5D
Pieczenik, Steve. 2016. “Hillary Clinton prevzatie moci v USA.” YouTube video, November 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc7iKCJUO_o.%5B2%5D
Praying Medic. 2021. “The Military Is the Only Way – What Happens Next?” January 23. https://prayingmedic.com/2021/01/23/the-military-is-the-only-way-what-happens-next/.%5B3%5D
Steele, Robert David. 2016. “Presentation on Open Source Intelligence.” YouTube video, April 20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9qLlSSHo7I.%5B4%5D
Wikipedia. 2024. “QAnon.” Last modified [current date]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon.
Written with the help of AI.
Writing by Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal 