We know the Secret Service made payments to The Trump Organization, so there is some precedent.

@JeffBerman https://x.com/markpinc/status/1888834462429123041?t=9mW_1IE-2xRtdwkMM4f-7g&s=19

Associated press received 20mil from USAID through subscriptions

your link is broken, here you go

@Berg but here’s the real question: funneling money to through news subscriptions to what end?

Do you count it as unreported funding if USAID workers were paying for premium subscriptions, as is widely being reported today?

Ah I see below you are discounting these reports as deep state conspiracy. Makes sense. Carry on.

@BlueDragon There will be news reports on how much of these funds were premium subscriptions, how much something else. I'm aware a premium subscription may run to $10k or more. At the moment, the number of subscriptions and the money paid make it appear this is something else.
We will see how the reporting goes.

@JeffBerman from the article in Fortune Magazine, linked at the top of this thread:

Although Politico received funding from USAID, it was minimal. That same website, referenced by right-wing accounts, showed Politico only received $44,000 from USAID from the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years.

Also:

The majority of Politico’s federal revenue came from government employees purchasing Politico subscriptions on the U.S. dime. 

A senior executive at Politico said the federal government spends more than $16 million on their subscriptions. The payments are for Politico Pro and other offerings from the Axel-Springer-owned publisher. He noted some subscriptions and licensing deals can reach the five-figure mark.

Isaac Saul, founder of the independent Tangle newsletter, said it’s common for federal employees to purchase these types of subscriptions. Along with Politico, other news organizations host insider content behind an expensive paywall. He calls the rumors “DOGE nonsense.”

“Politico has a super expensive pro subscription with very valuable info that loads of US agencies want and pay for,” Saul posted on X.

@JeffBerman among others, the Washington Post broke it down further and even more clearly this morning, prompting me to ask the question above about how you want to count premium subscriptions when resolving this market.

Here’s the gift link, since it’s behind a pay wall, ironically.

Records also show that federal government spending on subscriptions is not limited to Politico but also includes payments to the New York Times, The Washington Post and many other news outlets. But because of Politico’s professional subscription business, its subscription payments were significantly higher than many of its peers.

•••

Throughout the day Wednesday, Musk and other Republicans claimed that USAID alone had spent millions on Politico over the past 12 months.
But that characterization is false, according to a senior executive at Politico who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private internal data. The entire federal government spends more than $16 million on Politico subscriptions, the executive said.

The article goes on to list offices in the federal government, including GOP members of congress and the Trump administration, expensed tens to thousands of dollars for Politico Pro as recently as last week.

So my questions:

1. Does all of this count as “undisclosed funding” to Politico? And if so,

2. Based on this will you also resolve YES for the New York Times and the Washington Post?

EDIT: I think the answer is no, based on what you said below, that this is not payment for subscriptions, but I am also confused when you say you are waiting for clearer media reports about what is going on. Which is why I concluded you are waiting for different answers? If you can shed light please do!

@skibidist 👍

Should have gone with the other one...

@skibidist Maybe both.

It is understood by most smart people that USAID funds going to influence news organizations and other corrupted institutions are not reported on the internet.

@JeffBerman so how will you resolve this market exactly?

This question is flawed. The source cited does not show that Politico received 8 million dollars from USAID over the last 12 months. It shows that 8 million was paid to Politico across all US agencies. A refined search for spending by USAID shows no grants in this system from USAID to Politico over the last 12 months.

@Marnix wait, which agency was paying them then?

@TheAllMemeingEye There are grants from a decent number of the federal agencies and subagencies. You can see them here. There's some from the Department of Energy, HHS, there's even some in there from the Office of the President — but none from USAID to Politico

Also, in those departments, all the grants I've seen are for Politico's premium news subscriptions. If that alone would have been enough to resolve it yes, everything here does — the government pays for news subscriptions!

@Marnix This is not about news subscriptions.

@JeffBerman No, it literally is. Hit "View awards to this recipient" and you'll see what I mean.

@Marnix No, it literally isn't. I think you misunderstand what this market is. This is not about above-board grants and awards and reported funds. This is about unreported payments that are being exposed by the DOGE.

@JeffBerman Ah, I see. I misunderstood. If this is a "What will Elon claim" market, that changes things.

@Marnix Of course there are records of who was paid what. We'll see what the receipts show.

@JeffBerman Will a headline saying something like "Elon claims, without evidence, that <x> received 2 billion from <y>" be enough to resolve, then? Or a "claims falsely"?

@Marnix This market relies on the accuracy of the above news organizations. Certainly we can all trust the news.

Suggestions:

• Givewell

• Animal Charity Evaluators

• 80,000 Hours

• Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

• Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)

• Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP)

@TheAllMemeingEye Feel free to add those.