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USAID Funds Nebulous "Internews" Organization for $476.4 Million
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Posted on 02/07/2025 3:48:41 PM PST by TigerClaws

Kyle Becker @kylenabecker This is way bigger than the Politico scandal.

U.S. taxpayers have been funding an obscure news agency called Internews Network for years.

Internews is funded heavily by the U.S. government, primarily through USAID. There are 467 grants for Internews totaling a whopping $476.4 MILLION on the http://USASpending.gov website.

These massive figures track with Internews' Form 990s, where it discloses tens of millions of dollars in government grants every year.

What is Internews? The organization claims to be an "international nonprofit" that supports "independent media" in emerging democracies and uses media as a tool to reduce conflict.

A government supporting "independent media" is obviously a contradiction in terms so something else must be going on here.

The National Endowment for Democracy, founded in 1983 by Ronald Reagan to promote "democracy" worldwide, but since hijacked by globalists and leftists, has also given significantly to Internews through its Center for International Media.

NED was briefly defunded in 1993 by Republicans, but currently its budget is estimated to be a massive $330 million a year. Trump had proposed slashing NED's funding in 2018.

Internews is listed as a recipient of NED's contributions. For example, the NED's media initiatives through CIMA was at least $18.7 million in 2015 and Internews was one of the listed recipients.

NED has been strongly associated with engineering "colored revolutions" around the globe, and by extension, so is Internews. They are both involved in nearly ever hotspot on the planet: Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Afghanistan... the list goes on and on.

Who used to sit on the Board of Directors for National Endowment for Democracy? None other than Victoria Nuland, who was the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024.

Who ran USAID from 2021 to 2025, which funded Internews? Samantha Power.

If you look at Internews Agency's board you realize these are not your average "journalists."

Jeanne Bourgault has been leading Internews as President and CEO since 2019, according to its official website. She joined the organization in 2001 and has been instrumental in expanding its programs to over 100 countries, focusing on supporting local media and ensuring access to "trustworthy information." Before her tenure at Internews, Bourgault worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including a three-year assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Meera Selva currently serves as the Chief Executive for Europe at Internews. She previously directed the Journalist Fellowship Program at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, again from the website.

Jodie Ginsberg served as the Chief Executive of Internews Europe from 2019 until 2022. Prior to this role, she was the CEO of Index on Censorship, a London-based freedom of expression organization. Ginsberg began her career as a journalist with Reuters, the website notes.

Get the picture?

This is, of course, nothing new. The U.S. government’s funding of media operations and so-called journalists across the world has a long history.

During the mid-’70s, in the aftermath of Watergate, two congressional investigations – the Church and Pike committees, after Sen. Frank Church and Rep. Otis Pike – uncovered covert U.S. government operations in foreign countries.

They confirmed that that the CIA funded journalists (both foreign and American) and the U.S. government was subsidizing foreign print media, radio and television outlets – something the Soviets were also doing.

The CIA also ran Project Mockingbird, a covert operation to influence and manipulate journalists and to disseminate propaganda and control public perception.

Declassified documents and investigative reports suggest that the CIA has long engaged in media manipulation, particularly during the Cold War era.

As former CIA Director William Colby once put it, "The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media."

The CIA appears to have reorganized after having been exposed by the Church Committee in 1975. Those media manipulation operations seem to have been redirected through the State Department and USAID.

It is high time for another "Church Committee" to expose the U.S. government's attack on free speech and independent media in the United States and throughout the world.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cia; ciamoneylaundering; cpj; internews; jeannebourgault; jodieginsberg; media; meeraselva; msm; ned; operationmockingbird; reuters; samanthapowers; usaid
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1 posted on 02/07/2025 3:48:41 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

More info on the organization that says they fund 20,000 journalists globally:

https://internews.org/

Internews is a media support nonprofit working in 100+ countries. We train journalists, advance internet freedom, and help media outlets become financially sustainable – so that everyone has trustworthy information to make informed decisions and hold power to account.


2 posted on 02/07/2025 3:50:34 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

Yes, but what do they REALLY do?


3 posted on 02/07/2025 3:52:12 PM PST by madison10
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To: TigerClaws

CIA tool.


4 posted on 02/07/2025 3:52:21 PM PST by Openurmind
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To: TigerClaws

Re their mission....yeah, right. Prove it.


5 posted on 02/07/2025 3:59:03 PM PST by goodnesswins (Democracy to Democrats is stealing other peoples money for their use, no matter how idiotic)
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To: Openurmind

WEF tool...


6 posted on 02/07/2025 3:59:22 PM PST by goodnesswins (Democracy to Democrats is stealing other peoples money for their use, no matter how idiotic)
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To: TigerClaws

Defund, divest, destroy.......


7 posted on 02/07/2025 4:02:50 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Openurmind

Maybe. Or money laundering. Or both.


8 posted on 02/07/2025 4:03:18 PM PST by fhayek
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To: TigerClaws

Name something funded by the left that is not nebulous.


9 posted on 02/07/2025 4:05:26 PM PST by Da Coyote
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To: TigerClaws

Firing squads. We need firing squads.


10 posted on 02/07/2025 4:07:05 PM PST by A_perfect_lady (The greatest wealth is to live content with little. -Plato)
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To: TigerClaws

Honestly, I really don’t care what Internews does, worthy cause or subterfuge. They can fundraise from individuals who want to support whatever they want to do. The US government has over $36 trillion in accumulated debt and runs deficits every year. No apologies.


11 posted on 02/07/2025 4:07:29 PM PST by clashfan (Not tiring of WINNING)
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To: TigerClaws
This is easy CIA
12 posted on 02/07/2025 4:08:13 PM PST by DAC21
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To: TigerClaws

Here’s the smoking gun...their website says they have a HQ in Kyiv, Ukraine.....that money is long gone already including FJB’s 10%


13 posted on 02/07/2025 4:11:31 PM PST by jpp113
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To: jpp113

Whoah! good find!


14 posted on 02/07/2025 4:15:17 PM PST by MNDude
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To: fhayek

I would say laundering directly to a CIA propaganda machine.


15 posted on 02/07/2025 4:17:38 PM PST by Openurmind
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To: TigerClaws

What Is NED? Elon Musk Takes Aim at Agency Founded by Reagan Administration

Newsweak ^ | February 3, 2025 | Khaleda Rahman

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4295867/posts


16 posted on 02/07/2025 4:31:28 PM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: TigerClaws

Internews is Soros, of course, with the other usual suspects:

Internews gratefully acknowledges our donors for their generous support of our work. Read our Grant and Donation Guidelines. Recent supporters include the following:

Foundations

Adessium Foundation
AJG Foundation
Andrew and Corey Morris-Singer Foundation
Arcadia Fund
Arete Charitable Fund
Bertarelli Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian
Center for Disaster Philanthropy
Christensen Fund
Cisco Systems Foundation
Climate Justice Resilience Fund
Compton Foundation
Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY
(News Integrity Initiative)
Cruach Trust
Daniel K. Thorne Foundation
David & Lucile Packard Foundation
Democracy Fund
Environmental Defenders Fund
European Climate Foundation
Flora Family Foundation
Ford Foundation
Full Circle Fund
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Global Giving
Global Road Safety Partnership
Hand Foundation
Heising-Simons Foundation
Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation
The James Irvine Foundation
JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
Kendeda Fund
King Baudouin Foundation
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism
Lodestar Foundation
Marisla Foundation
Natembea Foundation
Oak Foundation
Oakdale Trust
Omidyar Network
Open Society Foundations
Ploughshares Fund
Robert & Michelle Friend Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Rockefeller Family & Associates
Rockefeller Foundation
Rose Gold Fund
Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation
Schmidt Family Foundation
The Sherwood Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Skoll Global Threats Fund
SLC Giving Fund
Souter Trust
Stanley Foundation
Teresa Luchsinger Giving Fund
Vodafone Americas Foundation
Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation
Weitz Family Foundation
Windrose Fund of the Common Counsel Foundation

Corporations and Nonprofits

Arnold Porter Kaye Scholar LLP
Baydin
Benetech
Channel 4
Communications Inc.
Dodge & Cox
Facebook
Frontline SMS
Global Call for Climate Action/ Tck Tck Tck
Google
Great Britain Rotary Club Districts 1070 & 1260
GW & Wade LLC
HIVOS
Howard Kennedy LLP

Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.
Humanity United
KYNE
Legacy Venture
Melwood Global
National Geographic Photo Camp
Net Hope
ONE HUNDRED
Paul Hastings LLP
RAPP
Ropes & Gray LLP
RSF Social Finance
Sky News


17 posted on 02/07/2025 4:51:04 PM PST by Uncle Miltie (Nitzy: New and Improved! Now with only 66% anti-semitic posts!)
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To: TigerClaws

ARREST WHOEVER OKAYED THESE PAYMENTS!! NOW!!


18 posted on 02/07/2025 5:20:51 PM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: TigerClaws

Another slush fund where campaign operatives, retired politicians, the children of big dollar political donors, and a host of other Washington DC types get a big salary.


19 posted on 02/07/2025 5:41:44 PM PST by freeandfreezing
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To: Uncle Miltie
A government supporting "independent media" is obviously a contradiction in terms

Like "independent fact checkers."

20 posted on 02/07/2025 5:45:49 PM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Re-imagine the media!)
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