The United States ruling class is in control of the planet’s largest investigative journalism organization. Does this surprise anyone?

During a probe into the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), it was discovered that the U.S. ruling class secretly controls around half of all of the funding to this organization. OCCRP is the world’s largest investigative journalism network according to the joint investigation into it by by Mediapart, Drop Site News, Il Fatto Quotidiano, and others.

According to a report by RT, OCCRP was launched in 2008 and initially focused on exposing corruption and organized crime in the Balkans, the OCCRP now operates with a budget of €20 million and a team of 200 journalists worldwide and works with over 70 media partners, including big names such as the New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel. 

The investigation, led by Mediapart and published on Monday, reveals that Washington not only provides substantial financial support – $47 million from US state sources since its inception – but has the power to control leadership appointments.  -RT

Drew Sullivan, the OCCRP’s co-founder and publisher, confirmed that the US government remains its largest donor, with USAID and other federal agencies also contributing millions to the organization over the years. “I’m very grateful to the US government,” Sullivan told German state broadcaster NDR in September 2023, when the Hamburg-based channel’s own investigation into the OCRP prompted it to suspend cooperation with the organization.

That’s certainly not going to cause bias, right? Getting most of your funding from and being grateful for the U.S. ruling class is not in any way going to impact how the OCCRP reports on the U.S.’s corruption or tyranny, right?

Well, OCCRP admitted that all funding comes with conditions. The U.S. government has the right to veto key personnel at the OCCRP, including Sullivan himself. Washington also requires the organization to use its funds for investigative projects targeting specific countries, such as Russia, Venezuela, and other geopolitical interests. Which is in no way biased, right?

Are we still trying to pretend we aren’t living under tyranny and the U.S. is somehow “free?”

Unsurprisingly, the U.S. ruling class has weaponized OCCRP’s reporting by fueling judicial investigations, sanctions, and lobbying based on the organization’s findings. The Global Anti-Corruption Consortium (GACC), created in 2016 and co-funded by the U.S., uses OCCRP’s investigations to drive sanctions advocacy and legal initiatives against countries and individuals deemed corrupt by Washington.