On 3rd February, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) took to X (formerly Twitter) to attack Elon Musk for questioning USAID funding to the organisation. They posted a screenshot where Elon Musk had echoed questions raised about funding to OCCRP by Mike Benz. In its post, OCCRP wrote, “The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is using a 2019 OCCRP investigation to attack the free press and US humanitarian aid. The story in question revealed how Rudy Giuliani enlisted questionable associates to dig up dirt in Ukraine.”
In the quoted post by Musk, Mike Benz, Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO), shared screenshots of a December 2024 article written by Ryan Grim, Stregan Candea, and Nikolas Leontopolos for Drop Site News, where they revealed OCCRP receives half of its budget from the US government.
Why did USAID pay $20 million to hit piece journalists to dig up dirt on Rudy Giuliani and use that dirt as the basis to impeach the sitting US President in 2019? pic.twitter.com/Ab8aQvJuF3
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) February 2, 2025
OCCRP is a major global investigative journalism outlet and receives over 50% of its funding from the US government, primarily through USAID. While OCCRP claims that it exposes corruption worldwide, there have been instances where questions were raised about its independence and potential bias due to significant funding by the US government.
The article shared by Benz highlighted OCCRP’s “investigation” into Donald Trump’s aide Rudy Giuliani, claiming to have “exposed” his connections with “questionable Ukrainian associates” who helped him seek damaging information about Hunter Biden, a controversial figure and son of former United States President Joe Biden.
The report questioned whether a few high-profile investigations are enough to guarantee true editorial independence. It was argued that such heavy reliance on government funding might subtly influence the organisation’s reporting priorities, even if not directly instructed. The concern here is that OCCRP might avoid pursuing stories that could significantly damage US foreign interests or paint American policies in a negative light.
Adding further to the controversy, the article mentioned that the leadership at OCCRP allegedly threatened legal action against journalists who attempted to investigate its funding sources. The article categorically stated, “The news outlets involved in this project, including Drop Site, have been on the unpleasant end of increasingly aggressive legal threats from Drew Sullivan, co-founder and head of OCCRP.” This aggressive response to inquiries about financial transparency has raised further doubts about the organisation’s commitment to open scrutiny, a principle it champions when reporting on others.
It is essential to point out here that Giuliani was the one who handed over Hunter Biden’s laptop to the authorities. This same laptop contained thousands of explicit images of the former President’s son, and the story was buried by social media platforms, including Twitter.
Another screenshot shared by Benz contained information about the STAIR programme by USAID. The Strengthening Transparency and Accountability through Investigative Reporting programme (STAIR) was implemented by OCCRP. The document claimed that it would “strengthen investigative journalism networks, invest in the next generation of reporters and editors, foster innovative tools and resources, improve newsroom management and financial viability, and advance holistic approaches to safety and security.” USAID provided $20 million to OCCRP for this initiative.
Expose on OCCRP
In December 2024, French newspaper Mediapart, in an explosive report, revealed that OCCRP, which poses as an independent, non-partisan organisation, is funded by USAID. In May 2008, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project received $1.7 million from the US agency. Its founder Drew Sullivan did not land USAID funding out of thin air. 7 years prior to establishing OCCRP, he had visited Sarajevo to train Bosnian journalists as part of a programme funded by the US government agency. Mediapart noted that OCCRP withholds/ conceals the extent of funding by the USAID and State Department from the public, media partners and journalists.
In order to keep the illusion of its ‘independence and non-partisanship’ alive, it removed the phrase ‘OCCRP is made possible by’ and the logo of USAID from the homepage. According to Mediapart, it is essential for all organisations to prominently acknowledge financial support from USAID. However, OCCRP has been allowed a ‘partial branding waiver’ that allows it to not follow the usual process of acknowledgement. The US State Department and USAID exerts influence on the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project through its financing. USAID can veto the appoinment of ‘key personnel’ in OCCRP. It also has a ‘cooperative agreement’ and a ‘substantial involvement clause’ with the NGO, which claims to be ‘independent.’
According to Mediapart, USAID uses OCCRP reports to trigger judicial probes and sanction procedures. OCCRP cannot investigate the US government and is directed to probe foreign governments hostile to American interests. These unfortunate countries include Russia, Venezuela, Malta and Cyprus. In August 2023, Gplus had predicted that the OCCRP was planning a hitjob along the lines of now-defunct US-based short seller ‘Hindenburg Research’.
We had revealed that OCCRP is funded by the likes of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation. OSF even gave a grant of $8,00,000 (~ ₹6.61 crores) to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project for ‘strengthening’ the organisation’s cross-border reporting and increasing the wider impact.
The ‘network of journalists’ published two hit pieces so far – one in August 2023 and another in May 2024. The baseless claims were junked by the Adani Group and also by the Mauritius-based fund ‘360 One.’ Even the Supreme Court of India had ruled that the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report could not be used to cast doubt on the ongoing probe by SEBI. It stated that reliance on a third-party organisation report without any verification cannot be relied on as proof. The revelations made by Mediapart come at a time when Gautam Adani was hounded in the US over dubious allegations of bribery.
USAID, George Soros and ‘colour revolution’ in India
In March 2017, the Heritage Foundation published a report detailing how USAID worked in close association with far-left billionaire George Soros during the Obama administration to promote its ‘radical agendas’ in several countries. The report stated, “…Evidence is emerging that during the past eight years, Soros, his Open Societies Foundations (OSF), and their many smaller affiliates have received U.S. taxpayer money through USAID and that USAID has made the OSF the main implementer of its aid.“
It may be recalled that George Soros, who worked with USAID, had been eyeing a colour revolution in India. In February 2023, the far-left billionaire exploited the Adani-Hindenburg controversy and launched a scathing attack on the Indian government. He claimed, “Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies. Their fate is intertwined…Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market, but it failed. Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards.” Soros accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of crony capitalism. “Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament,” he added.
The Hungarian-American billionaire also said that the ‘shakedown’ caused to the Indian markets due to the Hindenburg Research report will result in ‘much needed institutional reforms’ and ‘democratic revival’. George Soros and his vicious ecosystem of NGOs, activists and journalists had been trying to prove PM Modi as an ‘electoral autocrat’ who needed to be ousted. And it has been a work in progress for a long time. In January 2020, the American billionaire committed $1 billion to start a global university to “fight nationalists” and climate change, calling them twin challenges that threaten the survival of our civilization. Our detailed report on USAID’s involvement in attempts to destabalise India can be read here.
