USAID and CIA Regime-Change Operation on American Soil, Allegedly Tried to Overthrow Trump [WATCH]

Chris Cuomo and independent journalist Michael Shellenberger discussed a report examining the role of a U.S.-funded organization in research connected to the impeachment of President Donald Trump, raising questions about the involvement of federal agencies in political matters.

Cuomo opened the discussion by referencing new reporting that he said linked the U.S. Agency for International Development and a CIA analyst to a project tied to the impeachment process.

“New reporting reveals that USAID and a CIA analyst were behind a project that later led to one of Trump’s impeachments. Independent journalist Michael Shellenberger joins us to try to convince me that I should believe this. Shelley, always a pleasure. Good to see you, Mike,” Cuomo said.

Here’s What They’re Not Telling You About Your Retirement

Shellenberger responded by outlining what he described as established facts regarding the formation and funding of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, known as OCCRP.

“Well, look, here’s what we know. We know that USAID effectively created this organization called the organized crime and corruption research project, reporting project OCCRP, which nobody’s heard of, but it teams up with well known news media companies around the world. We know that it would not exist had it not rerouted a State Department grant from its Narcotics Enforcement Division through USAID and that USAID can sign off on all of the senior has to sign off has a requirement to sign off on all the senior staff and on the work plan,” Shellenberger said.

He added that the organization’s work played a role in the events that led to Trump’s 2019 impeachment.

“We also know that it did the foundational research that was essential to bringing the impeachment case against Trump in December of 2019 It was what the CIA whistleblower relied upon in his initial complaint in December of 2019 so those are the facts of it,” Shellenberger said.

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

Cuomo pressed for clarification, asking how the organization’s work connected to known details of the case and prior reporting.

“Explain that part, Michael, explain what they funded and how it’s connected to what the CIA agent and who that you know, who that was, what we know, because I thought it was the original guy, was the British guy that was hired by the oppo research place that Clinton had been working with and he was collecting it from his sources. What are you believing now?” Cuomo said.

Shellenberger explained that the issue relates to the impeachment tied to a 2019 call between Trump and Ukrainian officials.

“Yeah. I mean, this is the case of the you remember. This is where Trump talks about the perfect phone call with Ukrainian…” Shellenberger said.

Cuomo interjected to confirm the timeline.

“This is his second impeachment?” Cuomo said.

“Impeachment, yeah, 2019, so this is basically a situation where the CIA person in the White House, who’ve been left over by Obama, writes a complaint describing alleged violation of the law. This was then picked up in the house impeached Trump, the Senate, of course, declined to hear it,” Shellenberger said.

He argued that the involvement of a USAID-funded organization raises broader questions about the role of government-linked entities in political processes.

“But I think what’s so interesting here is that this is an organization that’s behind it that’s funded by USAID, that would not exist without USAID engaging in what I think you have to consider to be domestic politics, which is absolutely forbidden,” Shellenberger said.

He described USAID as part of a broader foreign policy framework, suggesting its activities extend beyond development work.

“You have to remember that our intelligence agencies are foreign policy establishment, of which USAID is a big part. It’s not really an economic development agency. I think people misunderstand that part. It’s really about soft power. It’s about establishing the power of the states in an in like an aggressive way, including in regime change,” Shellenberger said.

Cuomo questioned the necessity of the organization’s role, pointing to existing evidence that was already public at the time.

“So why did we need that? And what did they do that was on top of what we already knew. The call happened, it was recorded. There’s no question that Giuliani was mucking around over there and that Trump absolutely connected the relationship with Ukraine to what they could do to help Giuliani’s efforts. So why did they need any OOCRP, or whatever they’re called, and what do you think they added to the stew?” Cuomo said.

Shellenberger responded by noting that the impeachment itself was contested and not supported by both parties.

“I mean, I think the latter is not, is not something that you have a consensus on in both parties, obviously. I mean, it was a partisan vote. It was Democrats. There’s no Republicans that they got in the House,” Shellenberger said.

Cuomo acknowledged the point.

“Sure. 100%,” Cuomo said.

Shellenberger added that the Senate ultimately did not take up the case and referenced statements from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the situation.

“The Senate obviously didn’t hear it. And, you know, Zelensky himself said he didn’t feel pressured by Trump to go and dig up dirt on the Bidens. So that’s just a matter of disagreement,” Shellenberger said.

He concluded by raising questions about whether the involvement of USAID and related organizations could have contributed to actions taken against the organization itself.

“Look, I mean, so one possibility, and I don’t know that this is the reason, I haven’t heard from my sources, but I mean, look, you know, you have an agency that was engaged in what appears to be domestic politics going all the way back to Trump’s impeachment. Could that have been one of the motives for why they decided that this was an organization that had to pay a very high price? I mean, it’s really losing, really shutting down the whole organization,” Shellenberger said.

WATCH:

Warning: Account balances and purchasing power no longer tell the same story. Know in 2 minutes if your retirement is working for you.