The U.S. Agency for International Development under the Obama administration provided $9 million to a group supported by liberal billionaire George Soros that was then used to financially assist left-wing political activities in Albania, according to a new watchdog report.
Documents obtained by Judicial Watch show USAID pedaled the money through it’s Civil Society Project to aid Soros’ Open Society Foundations in Albania, and especially assisted the group’s attempts to provide the socialist government authority over the judiciary.
In total, $9 million was allocated for the “Justice for All” campaign, an effort overseen by Soros’ East West Management Institute, the documents reveal.
“The Obama administration quietly spent at least $9 million in U.S. taxpayers’ dollars in direct collusion with left-wing billionaire George Soros’ backing of a socialist government in Albania. It is particularly outrageous that the State Department allowed the Soros operation to help direct taxpayer funds to other groups,” Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch president, said in a statement. “George Soros is a billionaire and he shouldn’t be receiving taxpayer support to advance his radical left agenda to undermine freedom here at home and abroad.”
Included in the documents was an April 2016 memo from the U.S. Embassy in Tirana that shows the embassy “sponsored” a survey with the Open Society Foundation to evaluate Albanian citizens’ “knowledge, support, and expectations on justice reform.” According to the survey, “91% of respondents either ‘fully support’ or ‘somewhat support’ the need for judicial reform.’”
The State Department co-sponsored another poll with the Open Society Foundation regarding judicial reforms. According to records from February 2017, the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affair Section and the Open Society Foundation “each provided funding to a local organization to conduct a public opinion poll on attitudes towards the Judicial Reform effort.”
Furthermore, the State Department utilized officials from the Open Society Foundation to review applications for aid that the agency received. A report from February 2017 said, “As one of the major assistance providers in Albania, representatives from the Open Society Foundation are frequently asked to participate in technical receives of applications [sic] that we receive in funding.”
Soros’ actions in Albania have previously attracted the attention of U.S. lawmakers. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, along with five other senators, sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in March 2017 requesting he probe allegations that taxpayer funding was used to assist Soros’ efforts in Albania.
“Foundation Open society-Albania and its experts, with funding from USAID, have created the controversial Strategy Document for Albanian Judicial Reform,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Some leaders believe that these ‘reforms’ are ultimately aimed to give the Prime Minister and left-of-center government full control over the judiciary.”
The documents were obtained by the conservative watchdog group via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against both the State Department and USAID. The lawsuit has since been dropped.
Judicial Watch is also investigating information related to Soros’ behavior in other countries including Macedonia, Romania, and Columbia.
