In a text-message exchange last month, Prince encouraged me to investigate Bill and Hillary Clinton’s conspicuous choice of purple clothing when she delivered her presidential concession speech. When I asked Prince what he was driving at, he explained, “Purple revolution lore… I think it’s a Soros thing.”

But when I pressed him for more information, Prince, who is fond of citing the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, invoked Sun Tzu instead, responding cryptically, “Know your enemy.” Then he quickly corrected himself, amending “enemy” to “opponent.” He hasn’t responded to follow-up requests for more information.

The notion of a “Purple Revolution”—which was new to me—is outlined on a number of obscure websites, including several known for promoting conspiracy theories and pro-Kremlin narratives. One overview comes in an article published by the Strategic Culture Foundation, a Russian think tank founded by a former member of the Soviet Politburo that often gives voice to western conspiracy theories.

The article also zeroes in on the significance of the concession-speech outfits, and suggested that the Clintons were sending a signal that would encourage “Soros-style street protests and political disruption.”

I asked the article’s author, Wayne Madsen, who has contributed to the Alex Jones–run Infowars, about his sources for these claims. “I was contacted about the purple clothing choice by a political operative in Alabama who has worked for both Republican and Democratic candidates, as well as Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein,” Madsen said. “She's very connected but always conveys things on deep background with no attribution.”

It’s not clear who that person might be. Tad Devine, the chief strategist for Sanders’ presidential campaign, said he knew of no one who matched such a description. Stein didn’t respond to a query about whether she knew of anyone matching that description.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Clinton, Nick Merrill, rejected the notion that the choice of purple—which Clinton discusses in her new memoir—was part of any plan for revolution. “It signified a want for unity and a hope that the parties could work together for the American people,” said Merrill, adding, “Prince can read about it in Secretary Clinton’s best-selling book, What Happened, available at a bookstore near him.”

“I’m trying not to do Pizzagate shit, and that sounds a little Pizzagate-y.”

A spokesman for Soros likewise rejected the contentions that the billionaire was plotting any such revolution—or that he receives secret information from McMaster about the president. According to the spokesman, Soros does not even own or control any facilities in Cyprus, a country that has fallen deep within Russia’s sphere of influence. “This all sounds pretty crazy,” the spokesman told me. “I hope Erik Prince gets the help he needs.”

For years, Soros has been the preferred bogeyman of the right, but it’s perhaps noteworthy that he’s now being implicated in a theoretical American “color revolution” of the sort that has toppled authoritarians around the world in recent years. Indeed, Vladimir Putin has grown obsessed with the color revolutions that have brought down other strongmen regimes, including next door in Ukraine. He reportedly views them as covers for Western-backed coups, worrying that he could be next.

Similarly, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has, as of late, stepped up his attacks against the Hungarian-born Soros, as he leads his country down an increasingly authoritarian path.

That guys like Prince would adopt a worldview not unlike that espoused by the Russian and Hungarian governments is a reminder of how far apart the nationalists are from the national-security establishment that they’re working to overturn in Washington. While the consensus in mainstream U.S. foreign-policy circles is that Putin’s Russia is a top adversary, many pro-Trump nationalists view the encroachment of Islam as the overriding threat facing the West. They see the Putin and Orban regimes as bulwarks of Christendom against Islam, and believe the U.S. should cultivate them as close allies.