Over the course of the last few days, DOGE's deep dive into what the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been up to has been shocking despite not being entirely surprising.
We knew government waste was a serious issue, which is why we cheer when Elon Musk's DOGE starts drilling into the place where a lot of our government corruption was being funded, but what's being discovered is nothing short of insane. If this doesn't appear in history books going forward as a testament to just how awful government corruption can get, then we need new history book makers.
But of all the things being discovered, the most egregious, in my opinion, is USAID handing over millions of dollars to journalists.
As my friend Liz Wheeler highlighted in a series of posts on X, the amount of money flowing from USAID and into the pockets of organizations like Politico is unforgivable.
"The Politico scandal is worse than you think," Wheeler posted. "It’s not $8M that Politico received from USAID. It’s $34.3M that Politico has received from various swampy federal govt agencies. Politico is, without a doubt, a totally corrupt propaganda arm of the swamp."
Moreover, while Politico's payouts began in 2015, they spiked under the Biden administration, meaning his administration actively knew it had Politico under its thumb, and it decided to utilize the rag to effectively propagandize for the Democrat Party and against the Republican Party.
Notice when Politico started receiving bulk payoffs from the federal govt. The money started flowing to Politico in 2015. The same year Trump descended that golden escalator. Then, the payoffs skyrocketed under Biden. pic.twitter.com/HTKlxwoY7M
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) February 5, 2025
It doesn't stop there.
As WikiLeaks posted, "USAID was funding over 6,200 journalists across 707 media outlets and 279 "media" NGOs, including nine out of ten media outlets in Ukraine."
USAID was funding over 6,200 journalists across 707 media outlets and 279 "media" NGOs, including nine out of ten media outlets in Ukraine.https://t.co/tLUoBT2GfNhttps://t.co/Siq2RJOXQf pic.twitter.com/LyaUFuq3He
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 6, 2025
That the government is funding journalism in any capacity is absolutely insane, for starters. An independent media free of government bias is integral to a free and fair society. If a journalist or journalistic outlet is beholden to the government for its funding, then it's not beholden to the facts. At this point, they aren't a journalist or news organization, they are propagandists.
Period. Full stop.
It's funny that the Biden administration obsessed itself with "misinformation" to the point where it tried to create its own Ministry of Truth. Yet, it literally funded the spread of misinformation through various journalistic outlets, even outside of Politico, such calling the Hunter Biden laptop scandal "Russian disinformation."
By the way, speaking of Biden's Ministry of Truth, USAID was apparently funding Nina Jankowicz's internet censorship project in London as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, Mike Benz, posted on X.
Why is USAID funding Nina Jankowicz’s Internet censorship project in London? pic.twitter.com/2T5TpfTjL9
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) February 2, 2025
As you can see, it's clearly not just us, it's the world. Benz went on Real America's voice to discuss how USAID is one of the reasons Brazil fell into a socialist dictatorship that has now restricted its internet.
"I'm telling you right now if USAID did not exist Bolsonaro would be the president of Brazil and Brazil would still have a free and open Internet"
— Culture War (@CultureWar2020) February 5, 2025
"That's what USA does they kill domestic populism because it gets in the way of their foreign policy"
Mike Benz @MikeBenzCyber… pic.twitter.com/7MTZIQrdYa
Let's get down to brass tacks here.
Our own government took your money through taxes and regulations galore, then funneled into media organizations and journalists to then have them turn around and brainwash you into believing false narratives that only served to keep Democrats in power and Republicans on the back foot. They were forcing us to fund things that literally worked against our own interests.
This isn't something that should just upset Republicans or conservatives. The government paid these outlets to lie to everyone, including their own supporters. This should rightfully anger everyone in the United States as this was all done to purposefully mislead everyone. Leftist and conservative alike.
USAID needs to burn, and it looks like that's exactly what's happening.
The new USAID website: "Everyone is fired."
— Karen Piper (@PiperK) February 6, 2025
10,000 people losing their jobs overnight. pic.twitter.com/wxiTSsgYiK
There is no reason for an entity like this to continue existing, and it being the point from which our own government lead millions of people into detrimental situations is unforgivable. If it wasn't for the vast amounts of misinformation and lies that were made possible from this organization, how much different would the world look today?
How much better?
