USAID is no more. What’s left of the desiccated corpse of this agency has been absorbed into the State Department, with most of its workers laid off and its overseas missions shut down. The veneer of aid work has been obliterated, thanks to the work of President Donald J. Trump and DOGE, which uncovered a litany of wasteful spending. It was a primary driver of favors and pork for the political class. The gravy train derailed, and the vehicle for moving slush funds was deactivated. That’s why the Left freaked out about the end of USAID.  

The agency also played a part in the impeachment of Trump, subsidizing and being a quasi-lord protector at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which is supposed to be independent but was anything but when you review the dynamics. USAID approved its staff hires and action plan, and OCCRP was cited numerous times in a CIA whistleblower’s complaint that launched the Ukraine quid pro quo circus. So, it’s not too shocking that USAID was also involved in the Russian collusion delusion. Public’s Michael Shellenberger and Alex Gutentag once again dove into this sordid world of (supposed) NGO activity and government funding: they found that OCCRP pushed the Trump-Russian bank/money laundering myth.