A Soros-funded journalism organization also has copies of secret intelligence files from NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Reuters revealed this during an Aug. 30 article that called ProPublica an “independent investigative journalism group,” and made no mention of its political left-wing leanings. ProPublica is a liberal investigative journalism outfit that has received $300,000 from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations since 2000 and millions of dollars from the liberal Sandler Foundation.
According to the Reuters [1] story, the British Government is asking The New York Times to destroy its copies of British intelligence documents, but “[t]o date, no-one has contacted ProPuiblica.” The British news outlet The Guardian also had Snowden documents, which it said have since been destroyed. Both the Guardian and The New York Times are listed as partners [2] on ProPublica’s website.
This isn’t the first time that leaked documents have found its way into the hands of this liberal organization. ProPublica, along with the Human Rights Campaign, was given confidential financial documents [3] on conservative organizations by the IRS, including the applications for nine conservative groups [4] pending tax-exempt status. ProPublica [5] later admitted [6] “they should not have been sent to us before they were approved.”
ProPublica helped to instigate [6] the IRS targeting of conservative and tea party groups earlier this year by running a series of articles bashing conservative nonprofits, and then subsequently defended [7] the IRS’s actions.
CBS’s Bob Schieffer interviewed ProPublica’s Kim Barker (See related article [6]) on “Face the Nation” on Aug. 19, 2012. Barker complained that political groups, especially conservative ones, were trying to mask themselves as nonprofits. Schieffer seemed appalled at that picture she painted of nonprofits evading IRS scrutiny, concluding the segment with “that’s an eye opener.” ProPublica has received $300,000 from liberal billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations since 2000, but the Soros connection was not mentioned during the interview.
While ProPublica stories are thoroughly researched by top-notch staffers who used to work at some of the biggest news outlets in the nation, the topics are almost laughably left-wing. The site's proud list of "Our Investigations" [8] includes attacks on oil companies, gas companies, the health care industry, for-profit schools and more. More than 100 stories on the latest lefty cause: opposition to drilling for natural gas by hydraulic fracking. Another 100 on the evils of the foreclosure industry. ProPublica has also won two Pulitzer prizes, and has
ProPublica [9] began operations in 2008 with funding from the liberal Sandler Foundation. According to The New York Times it was “the creation of Herbert M. and Marion O. Sandler, the former chief executives of the Golden West Financial Corporation.” The billionaire Sandlers “committed $10 million a year to the project.”