In a stunning three-hour interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, former State Department official Mike Benz unveiled what he described as a vast and unchecked propaganda apparatus within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
According to Benz, this taxpayer-funded organization has been actively working to suppress independent media and shape public discourse.
Calling his insights “a peek into the machine,” Benz depicted a troubling scenario in which USAID allegedly collaborated with corporations, NGOs, and foreign governments to blacklist U.S.-based news outlets and silence dissenting voices.
The implications are alarming: an agency purportedly dedicated to advancing democracy abroad has, in Benz’s view, been turned into an instrument for stifling free speech at home.
This interview follows a recent discovery by Elon Musk’s team at DOGE, which uncovered evidence suggesting that USAID had been misusing its resources and influence.
Benz, who has long investigated what he terms the “deep state’s global propaganda complex,” described USAID as a “rogue blob” operating with minimal oversight.
“This is top-down U.S. government policy from the White House,” Benz stated emphatically. “It’s not just Internews going rogue. This is systematic.”
A major focal point of Benz’s claims is USAID’s alleged involvement in orchestrating advertiser boycotts against independent media outlets. He explained how USAID-funded groups like Internews pressured corporations and governments to block advertising on certain news sites operating on social media.
“This is the basis of lawsuits here in the U.S., like The Daily Wire and The Federalist suing the State Department,” Benz noted. “U.S. news sites are on these advertiser blacklists.”
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According to Benz, this effort was not an isolated event but rather part of a larger initiative to control information.
“This is not a half-a-billion-dollar grantee of USAID going rogue and being ideological about this,” he asserted.
“This is deliberate policy.” The underlying goal, Benz suggested, was to financially strangle independent outlets by cutting off their advertising revenue, thereby eliminating voices that challenge dominant narratives.
A Pattern of Abuse: From Vietnam to Ukraine
Benz drew historical parallels between USAID’s current operations and past government abuses of power.
“This happened against the left, against the Democrats in the 1960s and 70s when the CIA and its sister orgs like USAID were pumping money into domestic politics to stop the anti-Vietnam War movement,” he said. The notion that a government agency designed to promote democracy could instead be used to suppress opposition is, as Benz framed it, deeply disturbing.
The conversation also touched on Ukraine, where USAID’s presence has been particularly significant. Benz detailed how then-Vice President Joe Biden allegedly leveraged USAID’s influence to push for the dismissal of prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma, the energy company where Biden’s son, Hunter, held a board position.
“Joe Biden personally weaponized USAID in order to force a foreign country’s prosecutor to be fired,” Benz alleged. These claims add further weight to longstanding suspicions of corruption and political manipulation involving the Biden family’s ties to Ukraine.
The Global Propaganda Network: NGOs, Hacked Documents, and Media Influence
Benz also delved into USAID’s connections to groups such as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which he described as a “consortium of investigative journalists” funded by the U.S. government. “Half of its funding comes from USAID and the U.S. State Department,” he stated.
“They have a veto right over the staff that it can hire.” The OCCRP, which played a key role in exposing the Panama Papers, has been accused of selectively targeting USAID’s political adversaries under the banner of investigative journalism.
The broader implications of these connections are significant. “This is the largest consortium of investigative journalists on planet Earth,” Benz said. “And they’re being sponsored by the group that’s connected to something with hacking power.” The implication, according to Benz, is that USAID and its affiliates are not merely supporting journalism but actively directing it to serve specific political ends.
Benz traced the origins of USAID’s modern-day operations to the post-World War II era, when the U.S. government shifted its global strategy. “In 1948, we completely reoriented the structure of the American Empire,” he explained.
“We moved from primarily kinetic warfare into what George Kennan called organized political warfare.” This transformation, Benz argued, created a system that allowed agencies like USAID to operate with plausible deniability, free from meaningful oversight.
The ramifications of this system are now becoming evident. “What people are going to see on this is going to completely reorient their mental map of how they think the world works,” Benz claimed. “How they think American power projects into the institutions.”
The allegations surrounding USAID’s activities go beyond mere controversy—they represent, in Benz’s view, a profound betrayal of public trust. A government agency, funded by taxpayers and ostensibly committed to fostering democracy, has instead been exposed as an instrument of censorship and propaganda.
As Benz put it, “This is not just about USAID. This is about how every major institution in America—from media to universities, unions, NGOs, and even public health—has been instrumentalized by this system.”
The question remains: Will the American public demand accountability, or will this pattern of influence and suppression continue unchecked?
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