Origin and Development of the “Devolution”

The Circle Back to the Beginning of 17th SOG

Thomas Wictor’s Continuity-of-Government, Theory that Jon Harold turned into a baseless fantasy. (2020–2021)

Excerpt from a March 2020 Newsweek article describing top-secret continuity-of-government plans – including a “devolution” scenario where military commanders could bypass normal Constitutional succession​.

The roots of the so-called “Devolution” theory trace back to early 2021, when writer Thomas Wictor began speculating that President Trump had secretly invoked continuity-of-government (CoG) protocols during the chaotic end of his term. A continuity-of-government structure is an area few civilians truly understand—U.S. CoG operations, along with continuity of operations (COOP) and enduring constitutional government (ECG) directives, are wrapped in secrecy to ensure they remain effective under extreme threats. Consequently, many who reference CoG do so without a deep grasp of how it actually functions in real-world scenarios.

Wictor—a prolific conspiracy theorist (known online as @ThomasWic or “Carlos Osweda”)—posted a detailed thread on the alt-social platform QuodVerum on February 16, 2021, outlining his belief that Trump triggered a clandestine military takeover before leaving office. Citing a March 2020 Newsweek report about “above-top-secret” contingency plans code-named Octagon, Freejack, and Zodiac, Wictor noted that under these plans “‘devolution’ could circumvent the normal Constitutional provisions for government succession.” In Wictor’s interpretation, Trump had exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to activate these measures, quietly “devolving” power to the U.S. military in order to keep the government out of Biden’s hands.

At the time, most observers had little to no exposure to genuine CoG procedures. Wictor’s central assumption—that such plans could be freely triggered at Trump’s discretion, effectively overriding civilian authority—reveals how a broad public unfamiliarity with actual continuity protocols allowed fringe theories to flourish.

Wictor’s Early Claims

Wictor’s February 16 QuodVerum thread laid out several core tenets that would later become central to the so-called “Devolution” narrative. He claimed Trump “began planning for this in…2018” and that as of Biden’s inauguration, “WE ARE ALREADY UNDER MILITARY RULE. But clandestine military rule,” with a “geographically dispersed” leadership operating behind the scenes. According to Wictor, this secret operation—“the most complex operations ever carried out by the US military”—meant Biden was “not actually president” and that a “hybrid state of devolution and a shadow presidency” was in effect.

In his posts, Wictor emphasized that the military was running the country only in a caretaker capacity, “making NO policy decisions,” while Trump was “preserving [the] national-security infrastructure” behind the scenes. He even pointed to obscure clues—like a cryptic farewell comment by acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller to Vice President Pence (“We’ve been through some stuff”)—as evidence that Pence “oversaw it all,” implying the military and Pence secretly facilitated Trump’s plan.

Most strikingly, Wictor adopted the term “devolution” from the Newsweek article’s language, arguing that Trump had cleverly harnessed these “extraordinary plans” to shift authority away from a “lawful civilian federal government” and into an emergency military command structure. Under Wictor’s scenario, this amounted to a covert military coup (albeit one he deemed “legal”) that would never be acknowledged publicly:

“When it’s over, it will never be revealed,” Wictor wrote, asserting the operation was so secret “almost nobody knows it’s happening.”

Effectively, Wictor was proposing, as early as February 2021, that President Trump remained in power via continuity-of-government directives. His speculation came just weeks after the 2020 election turmoil and Biden’s inauguration, a timeline that found ready ears among a certain subset of Trump supporters who felt helpless, alone, and frustrated in the wake of Biden’s swearing-in.

Wictor’s Theory and Subsequent Rejection/Distancing

Wictor’s “devolution” thread gained traction in niche online communities searching for alternative explanations for Trump’s loss. The notion of a “legal military coup” resonated with those unwilling to accept the election outcome. Wictor doubled down in the days following, responding to commenters and broadening his concept—at one point claiming that if other countries suspected a form of “devolution” was happening, they would have no definitive proof. He famously insisted, “Devolution is the only answer” to explain what he saw as post-election anomalies.

However, as the months passed, Wictor began distancing himself from how others were running with his ideas. From the start, he’d cautioned that if his hypothesis were true, it would remain covert indefinitely, making it effectively unfalsifiable—a point critics seized on. By mid-2021, the “Devolution” buzz was colliding with the Q community, and Wictor became uneasy with that conflation.

He insisted “Devolution is NOT a conspiracy theory,” defending it as a rational hypothesis based on selective evidence, while simultaneously clarifying that many people lacked genuine understanding of CoG intricacies. Forum moderators on QuodVerum apparently disagreed, growing wary of the rising “devolution” chatter. Wictor attempted to stand up for the topic—and for one user in particular, Jon Herold (Patel Patriot), who was championing it—but to no avail.

Early Confrontation on QuodVerum

Around late June 2021, Jon Herold was banned from QuodVerum after repeatedly posting his own devolution-themed analyses, partly shaped by Wictor’s core ideas. One of the platform’s administrators, identified as Saul Montes-Bradley (known as “Saul”), not only shut down Herold’s threads but allegedly doxxed him, revealing Herold’s real name. Though Wictor initially defended Herold, the dispute ended with Herold’s removal. Frustrated by the backlash, Wictor quit posting on QuodVerum soon after and also ceased updating his YouTube commentary.

Although Wictor never fully recanted the notion of a secret continuity-of-government plan, (at least not in any of his thread I could find) he essentially withdrew from the public discussion as the “Devolution” theory took on a life of its own.

In later comments, Wictor argued the media had twisted his claims, but he never returned to the subject with the fervor he once had. In many ways, Thomas Wictor planted the original seed of the so-called “Devolution” scenario and then quietly stepped aside—especially once it morphed into something far more elaborate under Jon Herold’s watch.

Jon Herold (“Patel Patriot”) Adopts and Expands the Theory (Mid-2021)

While Thomas Wictor was pulling back from public discussions, Jon Herold stepped in, carrying the budding Devolution narrative to a much broader—and more eager—audience. Herold, using the pseudonym “Patel Patriot,” credits Wictor as a core inspiration: “I started studying devolution after following Thomas Wictor on Twitter and YouTube. He is the expert on the matter,” he once remarked. Herold’s early pivot to continuity-of-government (CoG) chatter is particularly telling: CoG policies remain shrouded in secrecy, and even experts rarely see all the layers. This general lack of public knowledge left a vacuum that Herold effectively filled with speculation-turned-“research.”

Launching the Patel Patriot Persona

By summer 2021, Herold established his Patel Patriot persona and Substack blog specifically to publish his so-called “Devolution Series.” His first post—“Devolution – Part 1: How Did We Get Here?”—went live on July 2, 2021, quickly drawing in supporters who felt disenfranchised after the 2020 election. Paralleling Wictor’s earlier continuity-of-government premise, Herold framed “Devolution” as the explanation for Biden’s presidency—an alternative reality in which Trump had orchestrated an unseen plan.

Herold’s Strategy:

Rebranding Wictor’s Ideas: He repackaged Wictor’s continuity concept under the “Devolution Series,” offering it as his own investigative project.

Copious Documentation: Herold presented a trove of executive orders, references to military appointments, and other official documents—material that most laypersons had little context to interpret.

Appealing Narrative: He peppered in unsubstantiated rumors (e.g., a Chinese defector, “ItalyGate,” Dominion machine interference) to bolster the notion of a hidden Trump plan.

Notably, Herold coined no original term for this theory. Instead, he took “Devolution” directly from Wictor’s usage (and from the initial Newsweek article that described genuine but highly misunderstood CoG measures). Yet Herold cultivated a uniquely methodical style: whereas Wictor posted freeform threads, Herold’s Substack pieces were structured as if they were part of a formal investigation—complete with “receipts” and a quasi-legal framing.

Tailoring to a Disaffected Community

Herold’s audience was largely Trump supporters who felt isolated, powerless, or angry in the aftermath of Biden’s inauguration. By emphasizing the possibility of a secret plan, Herold tapped into that psychological need for hope and validation. Beyond referencing existing continuity-of-government directives, Herold ventured into QAnon-adjacent territory, including the notion of Trump as a “wartime president” with special powers, potential mass arrests, or “PEADs” (Presidential Emergency Action Documents) waiting in the wings.

Jon greatly expanded beyond Wictor’s original continuity-of-government speculation—folding in election-fraud claims, martial-law hints, deep-state conspiracies, and even biotech or “bioweapon” angles. A single unifying premise held it together: Trump never truly left power.

Tension on QuodVerum

Although Herold drew heavily from Wictor’s earlier posts, the two parted ways relatively quickly. In June 2021, Herold tried sharing his emerging “Devolution” ideas on QuodVerum, effectively introducing them on Wictor’s home turf. While Wictor initially defended Herold, the platform’s leadership—particularly Saul Montes-Bradley (“Saul”)—branded Herold’s content too QAnon-like and banned him outright. That fractious event, in which Herold claimed he was doxxed, caused Wictor to disengage and quit posting altogether.

Key Takeaways:

• Herold’s banning on QuodVerum underscored the polarized nature of the theory, even among niche conservative communities.
  

• Wictor, although somewhat supportive of Herold, chose not to follow him to Telegram or Substack.

Passing the Torch (Deliberately or By Default)

As Herold moved to new platforms, he refined and promoted Devolution to a rapidly growing audience. In August 2021, some journalists observed that “Patel Patriot’s theory has taken off in a way Wictor’s never did.” Wictor’s original February thread, while cited as a foundation, faded into the background; it served mostly as a historical footnote rather than an active reference for the movement.

Even though Wictor never explicitly disowned his continuity-of-government idea, he distanced himself from the hyperbolic expansions that Herold was rolling out—foretelling or hinting at eventual dramatic revelations, Trump’s imminent return, and so forth. Wictor’s own (somewhat unclear) stance was that if “devolution” were real, it would never be disclosed. In other words, it would remain a permanent secret, rendering the entire conversation moot. By contrast, Herold encouraged readers to keep looking for “signs” that the plan would be revealed any day now—an evolution toward what critics called an all-encompassing, perpetual conspiracy.

Divergent Paths

Wictor’s near-silence regarding “Patel Patriot” from mid-2021 onward served, in effect, as a tacit disavowal—he neither endorsed Herold nor publicly denounced him. With Wictor in the wings, Patel Patriot soared, gathering an audience that equated “Devolution” with a genuine hope that Trump’s presidency would be restored through hidden military action.

Yet even as Herold publicly referenced Wictor less and less, the two interpretations of “devolution” diverged. Ultimately, Wictor had posited a continuity scenario that would never see sunlight, while Herold pushed a dramatic “reveal” narrative. For the swath of frustrated, Q-oriented Trump supporters who felt left behind, Herold’s sprawling series offered a compelling, if unfounded, promise of vindication.

Timeline: Spread of the Devolution Narrative Across Platforms (2021–2022)

From the earliest whispers of a secret continuity-of-government (CoG) protocol amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, to the explosive growth of the Devolution conspiracy theory, the timeline of misinformation underscores just how fertile ambiguity can be when exploited by opportunistic influencers.

On March 18, 2020, Newsweek published an exclusive piece revealing the Pentagon’s continuity-of-government contingency plans, code-named Octagon, Freejack, and Zodiac. These classified directives mentioned the concept of “devolution”—the delegation of authority to military commanders should civilian leadership become incapacitated. Although genuine CoG measures exist, the public’s limited understanding created a vacuum swiftly filled by speculative narratives.

In late 2020, as President Trump contested election results, Thomas Wictor—already notorious for provocative pro-Trump commentary—began dropping cryptic hints on QuodVerum, suggesting Trump might employ unconventional methods. Wictor carefully avoided explicitly mentioning “devolution,” yet his implication that “it isn’t over” captivated a disenfranchised conservative base desperately seeking hope.

By February 16, 2021, Wictor explicitly introduced the Devolution theory, linking his assertions directly to the earlier Newsweek article. He claimed the U.S. was under covert military governance, rendering President Biden merely a figurehead. Wictor’s narrative rapidly spread across online forums like Free Republic and 4chan, embedding itself into the digital consciousness of Trump’s most ardent supporters.

As Biden’s administration functioned normally, mainstream critics dismissed Wictor’s narrative outright. Yet, within certain circles, particularly those disillusioned after the contested election, Wictor’s message found eager believers.

June 2021 marked a pivotal shift when Jon Herold, later adopting the pseudonym “Patel Patriot,” appropriated Wictor’s theories and crafted his own comprehensive “Devolution Series.” Initially previewing his ideas on QuodVerum, Herold encountered fierce backlash and was subsequently banned—and allegedly doxxed—by moderators wary of QAnon-style rhetoric. Undeterred, Herold quickly migrated to Telegram and Substack, rapidly amassing tens of thousands of followers.

On July 2, 2021, Herold launched his formal public debut with “Devolution – Part 1: How Did We Get Here?” Subsequent installments delved into defense department reorganizations, civilian versus military authority, and the Insurrection Act, fueling the growth of his audience among displaced QAnon adherents. By August, the Devolution narrative had exploded within QAnon circles, amplified by prominent influencers and notably praised by David “Praying Medic” Hayes.

Despite Herold’s persistent denial of direct involvement with QAnon, his rapid monetization through Patreon and merchandise sales clearly relied on QAnon’s entrenched community. His appearance at October’s “Patriot Double Down” QAnon event alongside figures like Ron Watkins and Michael Flynn further solidified his status within this movement.

Late 2021 and early 2022 saw Herold expanding into multimedia platforms with shows like the “Devolution Power Hour,” and co-founding Badlands Media. Offshoot theories proliferated, blending Devolution with other conspiratorial claims like Trump’s alleged “reinstatement” or QAnon’s “storm.” Despite rigorous debunking by Newsweek and other investigative outlets, Herold’s narrative retained its staunch following, largely due to continual shifting goalposts—each “moment of reveal” pushed indefinitely into the future.

By August 2022, our small group of four— 17th SOG—sought to counteract this misinformation with the “Reconstitution” series, directly confronting Devolution’s flawed constitutional claims and clarifying legitimate CoG protocols. Ironically, in presenting factual critiques, we faced the very same censorship and isolation tactics previously directed at Herold by QuodVerum moderators, this time orchestrated by Herold himself and his supporters. Despite measured, evidence-based critiques, our efforts were overshadowed by the entrenched, financially incentivized Devolution narrative.

By early 2023, Devolution maintained an unwavering core audience. Jon Herold, increasingly using his real name, received further legitimization when former President Trump reshared a post referencing his analysis. Thomas Wictor, the original theorist, had long withdrawn, his initial warnings that Devolution would “never be revealed” forgotten amid persistent rumors of imminent disclosure.

From my perspective within 17th SOG, observing this narrative’s evolution underscores how misinformation thrives when public understanding is limited, and influencers capitalize on confusion and emotional vulnerability. The Devolution theory has been comprehensively debunked: no official validation has ever surfaced; key documents cited by proponents have been misinterpreted or deliberately misrepresented; and no observable governmental disruptions consistent with genuine CoG scenarios have occurred. Yet, Herold’s monetized myth persists, overshadowing factual clarity through deliberate gatekeeping.

Moving forward in Part Two, we will unravel the financial incentives underpinning Jon Herold’s Devolution enterprise and explore the genuine framework of the National Continuity Policy, decisively dismantling any remaining credibility of a covert presidential takeover narrative. We’ll also highlight how easily truth can become obscured by lucrative and emotionally charged misinformation campaigns.

Sources:

Free Public

DailyDot.com

The above article draws on primary posts by Thomas Wictor (archived via Free Republic) , Jon Herold’s own writings and statements , and investigative articles from August 2021 that documented the theory’s spread (Daily Dot) . All quotations and claims are cited from these contemporaneous records to provide an evidence-based chronology of the Devolution narrative’s development.