Mario Nawfal
@MarioNawfal

EXCLUSIVE - BOUGHT AND PAID FOR: HOW $472 MILLION BUILT A GLOBAL LEFT-WING MEDIA MACHINE

In February 2025, WikiLeaks pulled back the curtain on a government-funded media empire that's been quietly shaping what billions of people read, watch, and believe.

At the center of it all? A group you've probably never heard of: Internews Network. Funded mostly by USAID, Internews presents itself as a friendly nonprofit supporting "independent journalism."

But behind that noble-sounding mission lies a global operation that critics say is more about managing narratives than reporting facts.

The numbers are jaw-dropping.

Nearly $473 million--yes, that's nearly half a billion--has flowed to Internews from USAID and the U.S. State Department over the past 2 decades.

Add in millions more from billionaire-backed organizations like George Soros's Open Society, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and you've got a media Frankenstein stitched together with government cash and private influence.

In 2023 alone, Internews claims to have worked with 4,291 media outlets, produced 4,799 hours of programming, and trained over 9,000 journalists.

It also says it reached an audience of 778 million people worldwide. That's more than double the population of the United States.

But here's where things get murky. Internews isn't just giving media groups equipment and microphones. It's tying grants to ideological conditions.

In Hungary, for example, officials accused Internews of funding anti-government media under the guise of "media development." If you didn't toe the line, you didn't get the money.

In Ukraine, it funded 9 out of 10 major media outlets--almost all promoting pro-NATO, pro-conflict content during wartime.

And it's not just about news. In Kosovo, just months before major protests broke out in Serbia, Internews offered grants to reporters to write in Serbian.

The pitch? Promote "positive" stories about Albanian-Serb relations. Sounds harmless--until you realize this was a foreign-funded push to shape how people talk about sensitive ethnic conflicts.

Then there's Internews' Earth Journalism Network, which recently launched a $100,000 media grant focused on climate reporting in Asia.

Sounds great--except that the fine print gives Internews and its donors the rights to edit and publish all the content.

So yes, they're funding journalism--but they're also controlling the output.

Even advertising isn't off limits. Through its "Ads for News" program, Internews partners with GroupM, the world's biggest media buyer, to funnel ad dollars to "trusted" outlets. If you're not on the list, you get nothing. It's a digital loyalty program--except instead of points, you get credibility and cash.

Internews is led by Jeanne Bourgault, a former U.S. government official who made $451,000 last year. She previously worked on post-Soviet "transition programs" and oversaw a $250 million budget at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

In 2023, she launched a $10 million media fund at the Clinton Global Initiative--a project backed by Hillary Clinton. The Internews board includes big Democratic donors and political insiders, and WikiLeaks says at least one of its six subsidiaries is based in the Cayman Islands, a notorious offshore haven.

Meanwhile, its headquarters in California? Reportedly an abandoned building still listed in official filings.

Let that sink in: a half-billion-dollar media empire, pushing narratives in dozens of countries, funded by your tax dollars--and run from a ghost office.

Internews says it's here to "support press freedom." But as one media analyst put it, "It's not about giving journalists a voice--it's about choosing which voices get heard."

So the next time you read a "fact-check" or see a story calling something "disinformation," remember: it might just be brought to you by the same people who paid $473 million to decide what the world thinks is true.

Sources: Anadolu Agency, Hungary Gov, Ukrayinska Pravda, KoSSev, Earth Journalism Network, TRT World, Concordia, Shore News Network

Meanwhile, the left authorized $4 trillion in taxpayer dollars for their own political warfare uses:

This thread shows how $4 Trillion in Federal Funds Were Funneled Through Leftist NGOs to Enrich Activists, Mobilize Voters, and Power Anti-Trump Protests--With Receipts

This is maybe the most important thread I have ever done. It explains how the two biggest pieces of legislation from the Biden administration filled the coffers of all of these activist groups that have been engaging in the Trump 2.0 resistance. From GOTV efforts, to Anti-Tesla protests to the legal battles against Trump.

The Center for American Progress (CAP), founded by Clinton ally John Podesta, is more than a think tank--it's the strategic command center for the modern Left. Under Biden, CAP helped orchestrate the biggest activist cash grab in U.S. history: $4 TRILLION.

When Biden tapped Podesta to oversee implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act--a $369B climate fund--it wasn't just about energy. It was about control. Podesta's real mission? Redistribute billions to Democrat-aligned NGOs.

But that $369B was just one piece. The combined total from COVID relief, infrastructure, and climate bills under Biden exceeds $4 TRILLION. CAP helped shape who got that money--and it wasn't the states. It was activist orgs.

Enter the Justice40 Initiative--designed to steer 40% of benefits to "disadvantaged communities." In practice, this meant bypassing elected officials and funneling funds directly to NGOs, most of them progressive-aligned.

These grants weren't just for "climate justice." They funded GOTV, "community empowerment," "trusted messengers," and "technical assistance." Translation: campaign infrastructure disguised as public service.

Organizations like Indivisible and the Sunrise Movement became major beneficiaries. Both have organized anti-Trump protests, Tesla shutdowns, and youth voter drives--and both have received massive indirect support through these federal programs.

Indivisible used its gains to grow chapters in every swing state, launch digital voter targeting, and coordinate pressure campaigns against GOP legislation. Their footprint expanded after receiving funds through "equity" and "democracy advancement" grants.

Sunrise Movement, tied to "climate resilience" grants, led protests at Tesla showrooms and occupied congressional offices. In 2024, they claimed to have made over 4 million youth voter contacts, playing a massive role in Democrat turnout.

Podesta and CAP created the policy architecture that made this possible. They advised federal agencies to embed "equity" mandates and prioritize "community-based organizations" (aka: progressive NGOs) in grantmaking.

In total, the Justice40 Accelerator--just one program--helped NGOs win $138 million in grants. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

When Biden tapped Podesta to oversee implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act--a $369B climate fund--it wasn't just about energy. It was about control. Podesta's real mission? Redistribute billions to Democrat-aligned NGOs.

But that $369B was just one piece. The combined total from COVID relief, infrastructure, and climate bills under Biden exceeds $4 TRILLION. CAP helped shape who got that money--and it wasn't the states. It was activist orgs.

Enter the Justice40 Initiative--designed to steer 40% of benefits to "disadvantaged communities." In practice, this meant bypassing elected officials and funneling funds directly to NGOs, most of them progressive-aligned.

These grants weren't just for "climate justice." They funded GOTV, "community empowerment," "trusted messengers," and "technical assistance." Translation: campaign infrastructure disguised as public service.

Organizations like Indivisible and the Sunrise Movement became major beneficiaries. Both have organized anti-Trump protests, Tesla shutdowns, and youth voter drives--and both have received massive indirect support through these federal programs.

Indivisible used its gains to grow

Sunrise Movement, tied to "climate resilience" grants, led protests at Tesla showrooms and occupied congressional offices. In 2024, they claimed to have made over 4 million youth voter contacts, playing a massive role in Democrat turnout.

Podesta and CAP created the policy architecture that made this possible. They advised federal agencies to embed "equity" mandates and prioritize "community-based organizations" (aka: progressive NGOs) in grantmaking.

In total, the Justice40 Accelerator--just one program--helped NGOs win $138 million in grants. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Let's be clear: these aren't apolitical charities.

* Indivisible was built to oppose Trump.

* Sunrise led sit-ins to demand Biden go further left.

* Faith in Action and EDF advocate openly for progressive legislation.

And they're all funded by your tax dollars--thanks to Podesta's CAP and their policy-to-grant pipeline. This is government-funded activism, hidden behind a green mask.

CAP didn't just lobby from the sidelines. Its alumni staff the Biden admin. Its reports became agency regulations. Its "equity" mandates were inserted into budget guidance.

This wasn't legislation. This was executive-branch capture. Voters never approved it. Congress never debated it. And now, the Left has permanent infrastructure--built and maintained by public funding.

Meanwhile, conservative groups get nothing. No parallel infrastructure. No grants. No embedded agencies. Just censorship, audits, and public smears.

This is what they mean by "saving democracy":

* Billions to leftist orgs

* Massive GOTV ops under federal cover

* Protest movements subsidized by taxpayers

* Power concentrated in NGOs that answer to no one

Final receipts:

*$600B+ allocated across 500+ programs (Justice40)

* $138M+ in direct awards via Justice40 Accelerator

* 4M+ voter contacts by Sunrise Movement

* Indivisible protest partnerships with House Democrats

* CAP's direct personnel pipeline into federal agencies

CAP built it. Podesta directed it. NGOs profited. And the Left now has a publicly funded political machine disguised as a climate plan.

The Trump administration MUST investigate this fully.

She included a lot of links with supporting evidence, which I did not copy and paste. You can see those here.