A dark money propaganda network is distributing campaign mailers masquerading as “newspapers” to convince Virginians to vote in favor of a far-left gerrymander campaign.
Virginia residents may have received a piece of mail from “The Virginia Independent,” which has all the trappings of a local paper. Upon closer inspection, however, a resident might notice that a group called the American Independent Foundation (a nonprofit notorious for these kinds of propaganda efforts) sent the “newspaper.” A reader will also see a United States Postal Service (USPS) postage-paid section listing WP LLC as the payer.
Picture of sender and paid postage stamp from The Virginia Independent.
Image CreditBreccan F. Thies / The Federalist
WP LLC may or may not be attempting to appear similar to WP Company LLC, which prints The Washington Post, but a representative from that newspaper confirmed that it had nothing to do with the mailers. Mike Watson, research director for the Capital Research Center and managing editor for InfluenceWatch, told The Federalist he believes WP LLC is just a shell for a left-wing dark money network, which is using the LLC to pay for the propaganda.
Virginians are now just one month away from the April 21 “Election Day,” the deadline for a 45-day voting period in which they will decide the fate of Democrats’ gerrymandering referendum. If approved, the redistricting scheme would redraw state maps and flip four congressional districts from red to blue, effectively disenfranchising more than 1 million Virginia voters with a convoluted map designed to nullify their electoral power.
But this wouldn’t be apparent from this week’s Virginia Independent headline, which stated, “In redistricting debate, Obama speaks up on Trump gerrymanders.” The “story” revolved around former President Barack Obama trying to convince Virginians that Trump is the one trying to gerrymander congressional districts and arguing that the only way to counter it is by allowing Virginia Democrats to “redistrict.”
A side-by-side comparison of the current map and the proposed map immediately calls this contention into question, but Obama is persistent in pushing his narrative. He recently posted a video to social media stating, “Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. But right now, they are under threat.”
“Over the past year, several Republican-controlled states have taken the unprecedented step of redrawing their congressional maps in the middle of the decade. And they’ve done it for a simple reason: to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms this fall,” Obama continued. “In April, Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states. This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall. And voters will have the final say over what the maps look like.”
Obama has ads running on social media sites like YouTube as well, where he claims, “Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years.”
Ignoring pertinent realities — such as the fact that the Voting Rights Act has given Democrats an artificial congressional advantage for decades, because it allowed for racial gerrymandering — The Virginia Independent article throws about 200 words together to showcase Obama’s quote and then call Republicans racist.
The Virginia Independent presents itself as a “local” publication of AIF, which is run by left-wing activist David Brock. Brock runs numerous other left-wing outlets masquerading as news. In 2019 Brock’s operation took up its current name after some branding changes left the monikers “Blue Nation Review” and “Shareblue” in the rearview mirror.
As of early 2026, AIF runs five propaganda papers in Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Jersey, according to InfluenceWatch. The operation receives most of its funding from American Bridge 21st Century, which is a left-wing advocacy group.
AIF went from having about $18 million in revenue in 2023 to more than $58 million in revenue in 2024, Watson said, according to the organization’s 990 filings. Watson also noted that AIF takes money from Media Matters for America, which was also founded by Brock, as well as millions from the left-wing Arabella Advisors dark money network.
“If you don’t know that ‘The Virginia Independent’ is David Brock, you are going to be one-shotted by the fact that you are being fed progressive talking points,” Watson told The Federalist. He also explained that the phenomenon of left-wing causes hiding behind a facade of local journalism is not new, and that AIF is not even the biggest offender. Courier Newsroom, he said, is probably the best known.
But the model of propagandizing is based on Americans’ desire to have a functional local press again.
“The local journalism that liberals romanticized, but that did provide something of a service, has declined and left a vacuum and into that vacuum has stepped what are, if they’re not explicitly political action committees — and some of them are, American Independent Foundation is not, but some of them are — they’re just ideological talking points factories that present themselves as ‘I am the independent journalism that you miss,’” Watson said.
One “exclusive” in the propaganda rag is called “Two Virginians, one message: Why they support the April 21 redistricting amendment.”
The article showcases a white woman named Sheila Crowley who is a retiree in Mathews County, which has consistently voted for Republicans in presidential elections and is overwhelmingly white. It is also currently represented by a Republican in Congress, but would be represented by a Democrat if the gerrymandering measure passes.
The Virginia Independent writer asserted that the constitutional amendment means “Democrats are able to gain some legislative voice as a result.” Crowley said she would support it, and then went on to argue that extreme circumstances call for extreme measures: “If we had a normal Congress, I would say, well, that’s good representation,” Crowley said about the current map’s six Democrat, five Republican delegation. “But we don’t have a normal Congress. We don’t have a normal president. … And so this particular moment in time requires this kind of direct action.”
Another pro-gerrymandering story broke down why the amendment is “temporary” and insisted that the phrasing of the initiative on the ballot (which states it will “restore fairness”) actually means “balanced representation of voters statewide.” Notably, the new map concentrates power in the five counties that make up the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., leaving the rural, conservative part of the state in the dust.
The Virginia Independent also has an arts section highlighting an initiative to fund artists in Virginia, a “Commonwealth Cooking” section with a recipe, and another story showcasing a local high school’s tech project, all in an effort to sell the idea that this is local news. When asked whether all these articles were generated with artificial intelligence, just to get a mailer out, Watson said he did not think so.
“Media Matters, and the Brock Empire have the resources to hire cubicle farm libs who can churn out 500 words,” Watson said. “If you’re familiar with the margarine brand I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, this is like ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not AI.’”
Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
