❓WHAT HAPPENED: Documents confirm that U.S.-funded “independent media” in Europe was co-managed with George Soros’s Open Society Institute during the post-Soviet transition.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, George Soros’s Open Society Institute, and Open Media Research Institute (OMRI).
📍WHEN & WHERE: 1994–1997, Central and Eastern Europe; financial disclosures from 2023.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Yep, that’s right, our government co-founded the research arm for ‘independent media’ in Europe alongside George Soros – an arrangement that was in place for several years.” — Jennica Pounds, a.k.a. “Data Republican”
🎯IMPACT: Confirms decades-long entanglement between U.S. federal media operations and the Soros network’s influence campaigns in former communist nations.
In the 1990s, George Soros’s Open Society Institute partnered with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)—a U.S. government-funded “independent” broadcaster—to establish the Open Media Research Institute (OMRI). This joint venture, headquartered in the Czech capital of Prague, took over the analytical responsibilities of RFE/RL’s dissolved Research Institute and operated from 1994 to 1997.
Archival material highlighted by software engineer Jennica Pounds, known by her X (formerly Twitter) handle @DataRepublican, confirms that OMRI’s work fed directly into RFE/RL’s reporting. OMRI’s Information Services Department ran multiple archives and compiled intelligence on post-Soviet and Eastern European developments. These documents were later deposited with the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives, named after the father of Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State under President Joe Biden.
At the same time, RFE/RL—classified as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and operating under EIN 52-1068522—was and still is funded by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). In FY2023, RFE/RL disclosed receiving over $167.7 million in federal funds, of which $167.5 million came from USAGM. No subrecipients were listed for any of the funds.
The financial structure of this arrangement reveals a long-running public-private fusion between U.S. federal messaging efforts and Soros-backed information infrastructure, operating under the guise of “independent journalism.” These ties remain relevant today, as RFE/RL continues broadcasting into Europe and beyond while relying entirely on U.S. taxpayer dollars.
The Blinken Archives formally processed and revised these records in 2003. The archival listing directly states that OMRI was the institutional successor to RFE/RL’s internal analysis unit, and its funding and staffing were heavily integrated with Soros-backed foundations during its entire operation.
Under the Trump administration, the Senior Advisor to USAGM, Kari Lake, has moved to aggressively cut back the agency’s staff and budget, saying, “For decades, American taxpayers have been forced to bankroll an agency that’s been riddled with dysfunction, bias, and waste. That ends now.”
House Republicans are also investigating USAGM for years of alleged visa abuses and potential infiltration by foreign spies.
Fun fact: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a 501(c)(3) supervised and financed by USAGM (EIN 521068522). They used to have a “Research Institute.” Open Society Institute entered a partnership with RFE/RL to create Open Media Research Institute to take over the… https://t.co/1hQiwbsodd pic.twitter.com/hD3Issil1C
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) July 6, 2025
Image by IMF Staff Photographer/Michael Spilotro.
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