Later in the thread, a different user accused PsychoticMammal of being Vance because the linked video wasn’t listed. “Not listed? 21 views? Senator Vance, is that you?”
“Haha, I wish! I would love to make money like him and his VC friends,” PsychoticMammal responded. “Honestly, when I first saw this, the thought crossed my mind that maybe he looks familiar to me because he’s a fan himself, but I feel like that’s doubtful given his politics. I’m sure there are some congressmen who indulge, but I doubt they are using zenes or other RCs (research chemicals). “It looks like a cocaine job.”
In the comments of a now-deleted post on r/ObscureDrugs, PsychoticMammal, in response to a user who claimed that nitazenes are not dark drugs, called Vance a “Trump bootlicker.”
“I just can’t believe Vance, that Trump bootlicker, is leading the charge here,” the comments read.
PsychoticMammal described numerous instances of drug use in publications dating back to Kofsky’s time working for then-Senator Pat Toomey and Vance. “I love coke straight, mixed with benzos, mixed with opiates (my favorite, to be honest), and I even love a line or two after smoking a few bowls. I would even say cocaine is my second favorite drug behind opiates,” they wrote earlier this year. In May of last year, they wrote about “my latest tianeptine binge which has skyrocketed my tolerance” and “hoping to finally kick Tia” – references to a unscheduled antidepressant which produces an opioid-like effect and is banned in 12 states and is commonly sold in convenience stores. In May 2022, they wrote: “Coke then opiates are always my go-to. I only speedball if I have enough opiates to take the dose again when the puff runs out.”
PsychoticMammal has repeatedly posted about suffering from tianeptine addiction. In a post last year titled “ODSMT for Tianeptine Withdrawals,” they wrote: “I’m trying to figure out what the equivalent dose conversion is for Tianeptine to ODSMT. I get a few grams of ODSMT in the mail and I hope Tia eventually stops using it.”
PsychoticMammal has also repeatedly referenced the use of kratom, a substance obtained from the leaves of a Southeast Asian tree that mimics the effects of opioids and is often sold in corner stores and tobacconists. Two years ago, in response to a Reddit user seeking pain relief, they wrote: “I’ve tried every drug you can imagine; kratom is the only drug that really tripped me up and that I became addicted to. “I’m not sure what it was about it since it’s like a much milder opiate, but it was hell for me to get off that shit.”
WIRED’s investigation shows that Kofsky appears to be closely linked to the Internet username PsychoticMammal. In 2013, for example, PsychoticMammal wrote that they were ski instructors at the same resort, Boston Mills Brandywine Ski Resorts, which Kofsky lists as a former employer on his LinkedIn profile, and which he spoke about with Cleveland Magazine in a profile 2014 of outstanding students from the area. In another post from earlier this year, PsychoticMammal referred to the resort as his “home hill.”
In a separate post from November 2013, PsychoticMammal responded to a post about a St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, suggesting they went to that school and correctly listing the final score of the game. Kofsky’s LinkedIn account lists the Akron, Ohio-based school as his former high school, and he is listed as a 2015 graduate in the school’s magazine.
