Politico Issues Statement to Combat the Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories

As Twitchy reported earlier this week, a peek into the spending of USAID showed that the agency had paid $8.2 million to the news outlet POLITICO in just the last fiscal year. A lot of people said it was no wonder that POLITICO had a leftist slant in its coverage. The blowback was sufficient for the White House to cancel the millions of dollars in subscriptions.

CNN, of course, reported that a false right-wing conspiracy had spread.

“False conspiracy theory” that the government has $8 million worth of politico pro subscriptions that it’s about to cancel pic.twitter.com/TAVSTX9p8V
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) February 6, 2025

You see, this money wasn't paid to POLITICO to influence its reporting. It paid for subscriptions to POLITICO Pro, which is an entirely different entity.

POLITICO put out a note to its readers to explain how it managed to secure $8.2 million from USAID:

Note to Our Readers https://t.co/iDzOGC10x7
— POLITICO (@politico) February 6, 2025

Goli Sheikholeslami and John F. Harris write:

POLITICO is a privately owned company. We have never received any government funding — no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years.
…
POLITICO Pro is different. It is a professional subscription service used by companies, organizations, and, yes, some government agencies. They subscribe because it makes them better at their jobs — helping them track policy, legislation and regulations in real-time with news, intelligence and a suite of data products.
…
Government agencies that subscribe do so through standard public procurement processes — just like any other tool they buy to work smarter and be more efficient. This is not funding. It is a transaction — just as the government buys research, equipment, software and industry reports. Some online voices are deliberately spreading falsehoods. Let’s be clear: POLITICO has no financial dependence on the government and no hidden agenda. We cover politics and policy — that’s our job.

Guys, we understand the difference between a grant or subsidy and a subscription.

I don't want my tax dollars in any way, shape, or form flowing to Politico. They are liberal ideologues whose false reporting significantly interfered in an election, and they'll do it again.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) February 6, 2025

💯
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) February 6, 2025

This is the new "No public funds from Planned Parenthood actually go to abortions"
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 6, 2025

I have yet to see any of them explain exactly what these “pro” subscriptions offer past the normal subscription we can all buy for much, much less.

That is what turns these subscriptions into a subsidy.
— Jarrett 🇺🇸 (@whoismrzero) February 6, 2025

Do they save the legitimate, unbiased stories for Pro subscribers?

They think we don't know that money is fungible.
— C Wagner (@SFCSWII) February 6, 2025

$12k per subscription = payola
— FilmLadd (@FilmLadd) February 6, 2025

And some are trying to argue that the subscriptions provided important information to our legislators. WHO WANTS POLITICO PROVIDING IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO OUR LEGISLATORS?
— Charlotte’s Web (@HopeBeforeUs) February 6, 2025

They are really counting on people to not understand “payola.”

Because this is straight payola. It’s not WHAT was purchased, it’s WHO the money went to.
— PNWBirdhunter 🦆 🐕 🇺🇸 (@FanaticLurker) February 6, 2025

Imagine if $8 million was being sent to Breitbart through USAID while Trump was in office. Do you think the Brian Stelters of the world would be arguing that ‘Government employees need access to news too’?
— V-Nice (@SrirachaPool) February 6, 2025

it's gonna be a long four years for the seething left if they lose their marbles over a few Politico subscriptions.
— Donald Trump's Haircut (@TrumpHaircut) February 6, 2025

Civil servants can buy their own newspapers, it’s ridiculous.
— Bobby G (@blobbygFTW) February 6, 2025

This is exactly the kind of statement a USAID-funded media propaganda outlet would publish.
— ChazParker1 (@ChasParker1) February 6, 2025

Politico has never taken a cent from taxpayers… that being said, Politico Pro has taken several million dollars from taxpayers.
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) February 6, 2025

POLITICO Pro must be like NPR, providing priceless reporting and insight to our elected leaders. And we fund NPR, too.

Sure, you just got a lot of money from USAID and other gov't departments, charged them through the nose for it, called it 'subscriptions' for Political Pro, and then took their calls when they asked for favors.
— Coffee and Chocolate Games (@RealCoffeeChoco) February 6, 2025