Why the Politico Story Mattered-And Still Does

February 11, 2025–It’s been a week since the story of Politico receiving millions from the federal government broke, and people are still talking about it. In our 24 second news cycle, that’s remarkable.

The exact numbers Politico received have varied, from $8 million to over $30 million from the government as a whole. Nosy thing that I am, I went to USAspending.gov and did some poking around myself. In Fiscal Years 2021 through 2024, Politico received $31,619,832.04. The highest single quarter amount during that time was the fourth quarter of 2023 (Q4 2023), when Politico’s total take from Uncle Sam was $7,978,519.85. Granted, that one quarter was a significant outlier, but $31.6 million over four years? That’s getting into real money territory.

Breaking that same period down by payor Department, the top ten were the National Science Foundation ($5.32 million), HHS ($5.21 million), Energy ($3.27 million), Interior ($3.16 million), Agriculture ($2.11 million), EPA ($1.63 milllion), Transportation ($1.29 million), Executive Office of the President ($1.18 million), Commerce ($1.14 million) and the GAO ($983k).

And what did they get for all that? According to Politico’s website, “POLITICO is the global authority on the intersection of politics, policy, and power. It is the most robust news operation and information service in the world specializing in politics and policy, which informs the most influential audience in the world with insight, edge, and authority. Founded in 2007, POLITICO has grown to a team of more than 1,100 working across North America and Europe.”

They go on to say, “POLITICO strives to be the dominant source for news on politics and policy in power centers across every continent where access to reliable information, nonpartisan journalism and real-time tools create, inform and engage a global citizenry…We inform the powerful, particularly those who have a political, professional or financial stake in politics and policy. We illuminate this influential audience with insight, edge and authority. We do this wherever, whenever and however our customers need it. And we do it better than anyone else.”

Politico Pro, their high-end service, comes in two flavors: Plus and Pro Analytics. Plus gives you “Exclusive news, insights, and smart customization to drive your policy forward,” and “Smart policy tools all in one platform, including bill trackers, collaboration tools, directories, calendars, and more, original reporting across 22 policy coverage areas by 300 professional reporters, customized, proactive alerts & notifications tailored specifically for you and detailed policy newsletters.”

Pro Analytics gives you all that, plus “In-depth analysis, data visualizations, and project management tools to inform your stakeholders with confidence” so you can “Identify and build a network of influencers in Congress for key policy issues.” Pro Analytics lets you “Access real-time intelligence and policy analysis to influence legislative outcomes in Congress, Albany, and Sacramento. Navigate the complex corridors of power more easily and leverage the best research tools available to gain a competitive edge.”

“Influence legislative outcomes.” Alright, fair enough. I can see why major players like Google and Amazon would need a service for that, but why would NASA spend $500k on it?

Why would any clutch of bureaucrats need to “influence legislative outcomes?” I thought they were there to carry out laws and policy, not manipulate Congress. Something about that idea just doesn’t sit right.

Politico released a statement last week saying, “We have never received any government funding — no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years.” They claim they are “supported by advertising and sponsorships.”

Oh, really? Then why did the FDA pay Politico $517,855 for 37 Politico Pro subscriptions? That’s $13,996.08 per subscription!

FYI, Politico doesn’t list their subscription prices on their website like most companies do. You can chat with them online, or email them to contact your account manager. Scuttlebutt says a regular subscription is $200, and the top-flight Pro package is $5,000, but I’ve never bothered checking for myself.

Those federal payment numbers are why the Politico story mattered last week. It’s why it matters today, and will continue to matter. The numbers are WAY out of line for any reasonable number of subscriptions and rates. The obvious answer is that Politico was getting a lot of money for something…and looking at their reporting, we can guess what that was.

Politico matters not because it’s a lefty tabloid that covers the Swamp and bureaucratic/administrative/regulatory apparatus of The Blob. It matters because it was the first outlet to be outed as bought-and-paid-for journalism by DOGE.

Politico matters because its numbers pointed out what we’ve been saying for years—that it was Fake News. Bought and paid for, State-run media Fake News.

And Politico was only the first to be outed by DOGE and citizen journalists. The New York Times, the Associated Press, Reuters, the BBC…they’ve all been named and fingered and busted! Even Politifact, one of the “most trusted” fact checkers, too!

And we owe it all to Politico.

In an amazing coincidence, Politico failed to make payroll the same day that President Trump stopped USAID payments. Politico said it was a “technical error,” which I’m sure it was. After all, if your account has insufficient funds, attempting to send out despairs would technically be an error.

In the grand scheme of the federal budget, Politico is less than a drop in the bucket. The entirety of USAID is maybe two or three drops, at about 1.2% (43.8 billion in FY 23). But, one led to the other, and together they were like those little drops seeping out of the crack in the dam. Before anyone really noticed, the dam had burst and the flood was raging.

Politico has always targeted the Inside The Beltway crowd and those who have to deal with them. If you read it and didn’t immediately see its bias to the Left, it’s probably because you were Left yourself. Since DOGE spilled tea all over it, people are seeing just how much Politico took in during the Biden years. They’re asking what all that money went for (you can thank USAID in general for that!), and they’re going to USAspending.gov and looking for themselves. While they’re there, many folks are looking around to see what else their tax dollars have been spent on, and they’re not happy with what they’re finding.

Politico’s money trail has people looking askance at all the mainstream press and wondering just how fake they are. What little faith was left after COVID is in tatters now. People have learned to use USAspending.gov, and Data Republican’s tools, and they’re passing that knowledge on. They’re going behind DOGE to dig out the really juicy details for themselves.

Politico and USAID were some of the first big nuggets found in the new waste, fraud and abuse Gold Rush of 2025, and they’ll never be forgotten for that.

Will Politico go under, now that President Trumps has had the GSA cancel all federal media contracts? Maybe, maybe not. Only time will tell. Political junkie that I am, part of me hopes it survives. Once you know it’s going to lean Left, you accept that and sift everything in it to get to the good stuff. It’s possible they’ll pull a Zuckerberg and shift to accommodate the new reality and actually thrive…or maybe they won’t.

Politico is still publishing stories. I’m sure they’re scrambling behind the scenes to scrape up donors and patrons to keep them afloat. Oddly enough, on Monday they published an article entitled “Trump could remake USAID to promote fossil fuels.”

Could it be a Sign? Because there are no coincidences.

As always, the references will be added when this goes up on DocContrarian.Substack.com.

Dr. Bill Chitwood is a retired Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatrist who does political consulting and media relations. He is the author of Beyond Maga, available on Amazon under his pen name, Doc Contrarian. He can be found on Substack and social media as @DocContrarian.

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