First launched back in 2008, the OCCRP maintains an extravagant $21 million budget and a team of 200 journalists worldwide. It also has more than 70 media partners, including The New York Times, Deer Spiegel (Germany) and The Guardian.
The world's leading investigative journalists are almost all tied to the OCCRP in some way. The group is credited for its contributions to major journalistic endeavors such as The Panama Papers and the Pegasus Project.
Mediapart headed up the probe into who really controls the OCCRP. Since its inception, the OCCRP has taken in $47 million from U.S. state sources – and all that money came from U.S. taxpayers. Those same state sources steer the group's investigations, including country-specific investigations in controversial places like Russia and Venezuela.
"I'm very grateful to the U.S. government," commented Drew Sullivan, the OCCRP's co-founder and publisher, in a statement to German state broadcaster NDR confirming that Washington, D.C., is the group's largest donor, as are USAID and various federal agencies.
(Related: Remember when the corporate-controlled media went nuts following Donald Trump's initial announcement about running for president in 2016?)
NDR suspends relationship with OCCRP following internal investigation
NDR, by the way, launched its own investigation in the OCCRP last year that resulted in the media outlet cutting ties with the organization over the disturbing revelations that were uncovered.
Without funding from the U.S. government, the OCCRP would not be able to operate as it currently does. If that money came without restrictions, it would be honest and right, but unfortunately it comes with restrictions.
According to reports, the U.S. government has the right to veto key personnel at the OCCRP, including Sullivan himself. The U.S. government is in charge, in other words, not Sullivan or any other individual. Washington also requires the OCCRP to use its funds to construct and publish hit pieces on targeted countries.
One example is the $2.2 million that the OCCRP recently took in to work on "Balancing the Russian media sphere." Another $2.3 million was funneled to the OCCRP to investigate corruption in Cyprus and Malta for the purpose of using it against Moscow.
The OCCRP's judicial investigations, sanctions and lobbying activities have all been weaponized by the U.S. government. In 2016, a group called the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium (GACC) was launched to force the OCCRP to push for sanctions and legal attacks on countries and individuals that Washington deems as "corrupt."
"We're proud that [...] the U.S. government is the first public donor to OCCRP," said USAID's Mike Henning, revealing that the U.S. government's funding of the OCCRP is strategic for manipulation purposes. "Funding must be aligned with and advance United States foreign policy and economic interests."
Mediapart says the relationship the U.S. government has with the OCCRP is deceptive because it "makes the U.S. seem virtuous and allows them to set the agenda of what is defined as corruption." In other words, the OCCRP produces propaganda on behalf of Washington in exchange for funding.
"It is just another front for the CIA," a commenter suggested about the OCCRP. "We can just ignore whatever nonsense that they publish. Simple."
"Who investigates the investigators?" asked another, making a very poignant point about the situation.
"Wherever U.S. funding is found, you can pretty much bet the bank on it that the recipient is under their control," added another.
The U.S. deep state has its hands in seemingly everything. Learn more at Corruption.news.
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