[tomder55]

Michael Shellenberger was a lifetime Dem . before 2022 . He wrote books on environmental issues . He ran as Dem for Guv of California in 2018 . He is now an independent and a free speech advocate . Much of his conversion happened after Musk purchased Twitter and invited him and other journalists to inspect Twitter past emails .
It was then that he learned the full extent of what he and others call the 'Censorship Industrial Complex' .

He testified yesterday to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about USAID .

What he claims is that through NGOs they gave taxpayer money to ;USAID funded

US and Global Censorship

funding so called fact checkers

promoted defunding and boycotts to demand censorship

wants all net users to have a digital ID to end anonymous posts


Tried to control journalism

Gave support to Regime Change around the world (and in the US)

Directly funded BOTH the Russia Hoax AND the 1st Trump Impeachment.

This was through their creation and funding of The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project is a global network of investigative(OCCRP)
OCCRP played a significant role in developing the narrative that Trump and his associates had ties to Russian banking and Russian money laundering, as well as other undisclosed conflicts of interest with Russia.
Much of the Steele dossier information came from OCCRP reporting .

They also provided the source material that the "whistleblower " used as evidence against Trump during his impeachment about his call to Zelensky.


Testimony-Shellenberger-2025-02-13.pdf

"Between 2014 and 2023, the American federal government provided 52 percent of the money actually spent by OCCRP, and, since its founding in 2008, has shoveled at least $47 million (and committed $12 million more) to the ostensibly independent, nonprofit newsroom," Drop Site reported.

Bombshell - USAID, CIA, State Dept. Played Role in 1st Trump Impeachment: Top Reporter in America

"a USAID official confirmed that USAID approves OCCRP’s 'annual work plan' and approves new hires of 'key personnel.'”


"OCCRP does not operate like a normal investigative journalism organization in that its goals appear to include interfering in foreign political matters, including elections, aimed at regime change. Sullivan told NDR that his organization had 'probably been responsible for five or six countries changing over from one government to another government… and getting prime ministers indicted or thrown out.'”


I actually don't mind efforts to support opposition in enemy nations like we did in the Cold War. But as we have seen too often ,our support overthrew governments of friendly nations .
As Trump and Marco Rubio have said ; US foreign aid should be in our national interest ;and funneled through the State Dept.'s direction.

[tomder55]

It really cracks me up. Ask anyone where they would like cuts to the government and almost universally they say 'cut foreign aid '.
So of course that is the hill the Dems decided to defend.

Thousands rally outside US Capitol against Trump's closure of USAid

That being said ;one of the next on the hit list is Dept. of Education. I don't mind it being dismantled . In the time since it was created it has done little to enhance the education performance of our children.
But parents want their children educated and Trump had better sell it to them that he has a better way.