Explosive Report: USAID, CIA, and State Department Linked to Trump’s First Impeachment

Did USAID, the CIA, and the State Department play a role in President Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment?

According to independent journalist and University of Austin professor Michael Shellenberger, this isn't some elaborate conspiracy theory from an Oliver Stone film. Instead, Shellenberger, the author of Apocalypse Never: How Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All and San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities—who began his career aligned with the progressive left—claims in a new report that these agencies are tied to Trump’s impeachment through a relatively obscure “supposedly independent investigative news organization” known as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

For those who might not remember the details of that impeachment—especially given the political upheavals since—Trump was accused of pressuring Ukraine’s newly elected president (yes, that Volodymyr Zelenskyy) in a phone call to investigate corruption involving American interests, particularly the Biden family.

The controversy stemmed from allegations that Trump was withholding congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine in exchange for this investigation—a quid pro quo. The Trump administration denied this, insisting the president was merely highlighting corruption in Ukraine, a country known for such issues.

At the core of the impeachment was a CIA whistleblower who, as Shellenberger reported, “claimed to have heard from White House staff that Trump had, on a phone call, directed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to work with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. The whistleblower who triggered the impeachment was a CIA analyst who was first brought into the White House by the Obama administration.”

In an August 12, 2019, whistleblower complaint, the CIA analyst cited an OCCRP report involving Rudy Giuliani four times.

“The OCCRP report alleged that two Soviet-born Florida businessmen were ‘key hidden actors behind a plan’ by Trump to investigate the Bidens. According to the story, those two businessmen connected Giuliani to two former Ukrainian prosecutors,” Shellenberger noted.

“The OCCRP story was crucial to the House Democrats’ impeachment claim, which is that Trump dispatched Giuliani as part of a coordinated effort to pressure a foreign country to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, which is why the whistleblower cited it four times.”

This leads to a lesser-known but influential American government agency: USAID. This agency has gained newfound importance for Democrats, especially as discussions arise about possibly dismantling it under a second Trump administration or merging its responsibilities into the State Department.

In 2024, German public broadcaster NDR was preparing a report on the supposedly independent OCCRP. In collaboration with other journalistic organizations, including left-leaning Drop Site News, the documentary revealed that OCCRP was not as detached from government funding as it claimed.

So, where did the funding come from? Shellenberger reported that in the documentary, “a USAID official confirmed that USAID approves OCCRP’s ‘annual work plan’ and approves new hires of ‘key personnel.’”

On December 2, Drop Site News published an article titled “A Giant of Journalism Gets Half its Budget From the U.S. Government.”

“Between 2014 and 2023, the American federal government provided 52 percent of the money actually spent by OCCRP, and, since its founding in 2008, has shoveled at least $47 million (and committed $12 million more) to the ostensibly independent, nonprofit newsroom,” Drop Site reported.

“Other Western governments—including Britain, France, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands—have kicked in at least $15 million during the last 10 years. That’s according to a tabulation of OCCRP’s annual audit reports, cross-referenced with federal budget documents outlining disbursements. The review was conducted by a consortium of international news outlets, including Drop Site News, and is being published in conjunction with news outlets in Italy, France, and Greece … While OCCRP has consistently disclosed that it accepts some money from governments, including the United States, the full extent of the financing has not previously been revealed.”

Despite these findings, NDR allegedly “censored” the documentary. According to an investigative partner, this decision came after “US journalist Drew Sullivan, the co-founder and head of the OCCRP, placed pressure on the NDR management and made false accusations against the broadcaster’s journalists involved in the project.”

Drop Site further reported that Sullivan went as far as labeling NDR’s John Goetz a possible “Russian asset” for participating in the investigation.

Shellenberger emphasized that even with these censorship attempts, the revelations were striking.

“The journalistic collaboration revealed that OCCRP’s original funding came from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the State Department, and quotes a USAID official who says, ‘Drew’s just nervous about being linked with law enforcement,’ referring to Sullivan. ‘If people who are going to give you information think you’re just a cop, maybe it’s a problem,’” Shellenberger wrote.

“OCCRP does not operate like a normal investigative journalism organization in that its goals appear to include interfering in foreign political matters, including elections, aimed at regime change. Sullivan told NDR that his organization had ‘probably been responsible for five or six countries changing over from one government to another government… and getting prime ministers indicted or thrown out.’”

Based on Shellenberger’s reporting, “it appears that CIA, USAID, and OCCRP were all involved in the impeachment of President Trump in ways similar to the regime change operations that all three organizations engage in abroad. The difference is that it is highly illegal and even treasonous for CIA, USAID, and its contractors and intermediaries, known as ‘cut-outs,’ to interfere in US politics this way.”

In an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters, Shellenberger’s findings were encapsulated in a chilling summary: “USAID was involved in regime change abroad and here at home.”

To be clear, Shellenberger is not a die-hard Trump supporter. However, these claims—if true—could be significant.

While the evidence doesn’t necessarily point to a coordinated effort, it does indicate that key figures within the CIA, USAID, and the State Department shared ideological biases, opposed Trump, supported a pro-Western Ukrainian government, and saw no issue with engaging in actions that resemble regime change operations—even within the U.S.

Ultimately, the battle over USAID isn’t just about foreign aid or government efficiency. It’s about maintaining an agency that operates in secrecy, advancing ideological agendas without scrutiny.

Did USAID play a role in Trump’s first impeachment? The evidence suggests that a major recipient of USAID (and State Department) funding provided critical support for the case against him.