USAID wasted millions of American tax dollars on propping up literal pet projects like dog collar manufacturing in Ukraine, according to findings obtained by The Federalist.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spent millions of American taxpayer dollars propping up pet projects like dog collar manufacturing and pickle making in Ukraine and then spent months stonewalling members of Congress about that spending, according to findings obtained by The Federalist.
Sen. Joni Ernst’s staff uncovered the secret slush funds when, after months of enduring the agency’s excuses to justify its resistance to oversight, they were finally permitted access to “very limited data.” In October 2024, as Ernst has since detailed, the senator’s staff visited USAID headquarters in person for an “in-camera review” of Ukraine assistance data even though, her team discovered, the documents were not classified.
Even though they were heavily restricted during their investigation, Ernst’s team discovered a variety of U.S. taxpayer-funded grants funneled to Ukrainian businesses under the guise of both Competitive Economy Program (CEP) and Investment for Business Resilience funds.
Among the grants Ernst’s staff discovered were hundreds of thousands of dollars devoted to literal pet projects including approximately $300,000 to a “pet tracking app,” approximately $300,000 to a “dog collar manufacturer,” and approximately another $109,000 to a “pet food packaging producer,” according to a findings breakdown Ernst’s office sent to The Federalist. […]
— Read More: thefederalist.com
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
