Influence and Media (USAID cont'd) : Follow the Money
From Trump to Biden, from the United States to Europe, from Politico to AFP. How government moneys permeate the corridors of influence within the transatlantic community.
USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, has been capturing attention for the past two weeks. Refer to our earlier coverage.
The funding mechanisms supporting the American 'deep state' is far more extensive than reported.
Based on publicly available data tracking U.S. government expenditures, Washington disbursed $8.2 million to Politico in 2024 alone, channeled through multiple governmental bodies, not solely USAID – which accounted for a mere $44,000 directed toward subscriptions for E&E News, a Politico subsidiary. ‘When tallying each fiscal year since 2015, this amount escalates to $34.3 million (33 million euros) over more than 1,300 separate transactions,’ as computed by The European Conservative.
An annual expenditure exceeding $8 million on premium subscriptions to stay abreast of current affairs, particularly political and electoral developments? Or perhaps to enhance coverage of the Covid-19 crisis 1 ? This is plausible and justifiable. But does it exert no influence whatsoever on the editorial stance? Politico firmly maintains that it does not 2.
Politico played a key role in the Hunter Biden laptop controversy; uncritically amplifying claims of Russian disinformation without engaging in any investigation 3, thereby influencing the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Is this a reflection of the expanding influence of the publication ? Subscriptions from the U.S. federal government have been on a steady upward trajectory since 2015, beginning under Obama. In 2016, the volume of contracts soared amid Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid, a trend that persisted and intensified across the subsequent years under Trump’s tenure, accelerating further under Biden, and peaking in 2024 – coinciding yet again with an election year.
Why spotlight Politico ? This American media entity, whose European arm was acquired in 2021 by Germany’s Axel Springer, holds a uniquely entrenched position within the corridors of power spanning Washington and Brussels. Since 2015, it has extended its reach by establishing bureaus in major European capitals to report on political developments and EU public policy. Is its role to shape narratives? Does it act as a vigilant observer?
Politico, regardless, stands out as exceptionally well-informed, significantly contributing to the exposure of major scandals such as Qatargate, Pfizergate, and sexual harassment allegations within the European Parliament.
In France, the Agence France Presse (AFP) serves as the pacesetter for news coverage. The AFP holds a commanding presence within the French media ecosystem, bolstered by its extensive reporting network and, crucially, its unique standing : designated as a public-interest entity, it benefits from substantial government funding. This amounts to approximately €135 million annually, with nearly €22 million derived from subscriptions – a stark contrast to Politico’s €8 million.
More significantly, the AFP saturates the French press with turnkey content—pre-packaged bundles of articles, photographs, videos, and graphics – often reproduced verbatim, as signaled by the ubiquitous “with AFP” byline. This dynamic ensures a striking uniformity in national and international news across French outlets, rarely veering from the established governmental line. Such practices have led critics to dub it the “Agence Fake Press,” a pointed jab, particularly at its high-profile fact-checking sections.
These fact-checking sections represent a quintessential example – raising the question : are we to infer that beyond these specialized features, factual accuracy is not a priority? They’ve proliferated across mainstream media outlets, with many launched and bankrolled by the European Commission, either directly through project tenders or via adjacent initiatives. Brussels has funneled several million euros into “fact-checking” endeavors, yet the opacity of the funding obscures a full accounting of the sums committed. This is transparency in the European way, murky…
Much like Politico, the AFP is deeply indebted to American financial support. “Between 2017 and 2024,” according to independent journalist Amélie Ismaïli’s calculations, “the AFP secured nearly $8 million from the US Agency for Global Media, the federal entity steering America’s ‘soft power’ media apparatus worldwide, including outlets like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.”
Much like Politico, the AFP’s upward trajectory took off prior to Trump’s initial term, with service procurement doubling by late 2020 under the Biden administration.
“These aren’t merely routine ‘subscriptions’ for news dispatches, a practice common among governments globally,” the journalist notes. “Per available data, these contracts – exceeding $1 million annually – cover an expansive array of services : subscriptions to AFP’s news feeds and imagery, rebroadcast rights for outlets under the USAGM’s purview, plus consulting engagements, strategic intelligence tasks, access to a secure content database, and collaborative efforts to advance “fact-checking” and “trustworthy information” in regions where press freedoms face jeopardy.”
“At a minimum, such figures warrant scrutiny regarding the sway this U.S. agency may exert over the editorial direction of France’s premier news organization.”
The U.S. Department of Health, alongside the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emerged as the leading subscribers, channeling close to $7 million into these efforts.
“Let’s be clear : POLITICO has no financial dependence on the government and no hidden agenda. We cover politics and policy — that’s our job.” (The Hill).
The outlet prominently amplified a letter endorsed by over fifty former U.S. intelligence figures, which posited that the disclosures surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop exhibited “all the telltale signs of a Russian information campaign”—this, despite the letter’s explicit caveat that its signatories lacked concrete evidence of Moscow’s hand. In the aftermath, ex-Politico journalists, including Marc Caputo and Tara Palmeri, took aim at the publication’s editorial choices on the matter, asserting that “senior-level” instructions had steered it toward scant reporting or the outright omission of key aspects of the story.