News/Commentary

Politico denies being a ‘beneficiary of government programs’ as anger over misused tax dollars grows

February 6, 2025 | | Print Article

Politico says it’s more than willing to have a conversation about the latest allegations launched against it, and denies any wrongdoing.

Politico has been under heavy fire for allegedly accepting millions in government (taxpayer) money to pay for its subscription service. The revelation caught by DOGE led White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to announce a freeze on the funding.

“I can confirm that the more than $8M taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer’s dime will no longer be happening,” Leavitt said during a press conference on Wednesday.

“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.”

Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and editor-in-chief John Harris, however, say it’s all a big misunderstanding and denied it’s a ‘beneficiary of government programs” in a letter that went to its staff.

“As surely many of you saw today, there was a spirited discussion at the White House and among officials connected to the Department of Government Efficiency on the subject of government subscriptions for journalism products, at POLITICO and other news organizations,” the two wrote a memo obtained by Fox News Digital.

“This is a fine conversation to have, and we welcome it. The value of POLITICO subscriptions is validated daily in the marketplace. Some parts of today’s conversation, however, were confusing and left some people with false understandings. For this reason, we want you to hear from us on several points.”

Sheikholeslami and Harris praised its subscription service for delivering “granular, fact-based reporting” and “real-time intelligence” but maintained that it never received even “one cent, ever” of government subsidies. They also emphasized the majority of its “professional subscriptions” are in the “private sector.”

The memo concluded with a curious comment that was borderline complimentary of DOGE.

“We believe the work of a new administration—and the work being done by DOGE—is a hugely important story. In particular, because of the ambition of the new administration to transform large sections of the government, our responsibility to cover this from every angle is urgent.”

Politico didn’t respond to Fox Digital, but X users had plenty to say including, Elon Musk and President Trump.

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It seems likely Politico’s denial will do little to squash the anger that only seems to be growing:

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Nicole Haas
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