Wikileaks reveals Internews' abandoned HQ linked to $472M USAID funds

Wikileaks exposes headquarters of network that channeled $472 million from USAID

An abandoned building at 876 Seventh Street in Arcata (California), with peeling paint and a broken mailbox, appears in IRS records and federal contracts as the operational headquarters of Internews Network. From there, according to material released by Wikileaks, nearly half a billion dollars from the US agency USAID would have been channeled into a structure claiming to work with 4,291 media outlets, produce 4,799 hours of broadcasts annually, and train more than 9,000 journalists. The photo of the property, taken in December 2024, shows a clearly abandoned site. The figure cited by the organization for 2023 — reaching 778 million people — indicates the true scale of the issue.

What is Internews and where does its money come from?

Internews defines itself to the IRS as an international non-profit organization whose mission is to "empower local media around the world." In practice, according to circulating data, more than 95% of its budget since 2008 — when electronic records began — comes from the United States government. According to a circulating analysis, funding would have doubled since Trump's victory in his first term, during the crusade against so-called disinformation.

The corporate structure includes at least six captive subsidiaries under unrelated names, one of which is based in the Cayman Islands. The organization claims to have offices in more than 30 countries, with main hubs in the United States, London, and Paris, and regional delegations in Kyiv, Bangkok, and Nairobi. Also in Spain.

How was information channeled to the media?

According to a circulating analysis, the mechanism did not consist of paying newsrooms directly. Internews produced talking points that were then circulated among journalists to be reproduced in their media outlets. The organization did not officially contact newsrooms: its function was to channel the material. This architecture would explain why, regarding certain topics, dozens of media outlets published the same angle on the same day.

Some argue that this structure operated as a matrix of global censorship, interfering in matters such as wars, the origins of ELbichito-19, or vaccines. Counterarguments state that Internews presents itself as an NGO supporting local journalism in countries with weak media. The debate over where development ends and propaganda begins remains unresolved.

Political reaction and Musk's role

The collapse of USAID has generated an earthquake in the Western media ecosystem. Part of the analysis argues that the closure is real and that media dependent on these funds face an immediate financing problem. Another, more skeptical current suggests the agency will not close: it will restructure and continue operating under another form. According to a circulating analysis, Marco Rubio would have already stated that the structure is being reorganized and continues.

Elon Musk's role in the whole affair generates division. For some, he is the necessary scourge exposing the plot. For others, he is a useful buffoon generating headlines while the machinery keeps running underneath. Comparisons with Steve Bannon in Trump's second term appear in more than one analysis.

What happens with Spanish media and journalists?

The question pervading the issue is which specific media outlets and journalists received funding. The daily eldiario.es has appeared in several cross-references, and some analyses point to nervousness in newsrooms that would have depended on these funds. The demand for lists by country and proper names has become the axis of public discussion.

The legal framework is another open front. Since it involves foreign funding channeled to media, some suggest the figure could fit treason crimes or at least serious irregular financing abusa. The legal qualification is far from settled.

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The unsettling fact is not the amount. It is that a network claiming to have reached 778 million people operated from an abandoned building in a Californian city of 19,000 inhabitants. Someone signed the contracts. Someone got paid. And the mailbox remains broken.