NOTUS

🔥💥 TRUMP VS. NOTUS: Who's Really Behind This “New Generation” of Journalism? 💥🔥

It is ... surprise, a foreign money launderer that got implicated by the Senate on a number of crimes, yet escaped any charges. The very same founder of Politico - Robert Allbriton.

Thanks to a… https://t.co/AzXGZMMB2I

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) May 20, 2025

… request by @SophieMae1022 , I "followed the money" on NOTUS.

Today, President Trump roasted a NOTUS reporter: 👉 "You should get a new job."

But ... what is NOTUS — and who's pulling the strings behind it?

🔍 NOTUS is the newest mouthpiece in D.C.'s media echo chamber. Launched in January 2024, it’s the official publication of the Allbritton Journalism Institute (AJI) — a project bankrolled with a $20 million grant from none other than Robert Allbritton, the former owner of Politico.

According to AJI, their mission is to "restore journalism's role in our democracy." Translation: Reinstate the media as a guardrail for the ruling class as a tool to shape and police public discourse.

🏛️ Politico, the crown jewel of Allbritton's media empire, spent years portraying Trump and populist movements as existential "threats to democracy." Now AJI and NOTUS are carrying that torch forward by training a new crop of "nonpartisan" journalists.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. More on Robert Allbritton below. 👇

Robert Allbriton, the founder behind NOTUS, was previously Chairman and CEO of Riggs National Corporation - the parent company of Riggs Bank. Under his leadership, Riggs Bank was implicated in a major international money laundering scandal, as detailed in a 2004 U.S. Senate investigation report.

The bank directly serviced accounts for foreign dictators including Augusto Pinochet of Chile and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, facilitating shell companies, secret accounts, and over $11 million in suspicious cash deposits from Obiang alone. Riggs helped Pinochet hide millions while he was under house arrest and under global asset seizure orders.

According to the Senate report, Riggs "assisted Pinochet to evade legal proceedings," "concealed accounts from federal regulators," and helped transfer money using shell corporations to avoid detection. The report also noted that senior executives, including Allbriton’s associates, solicited Pinochet’s business and were involved in decisions on these accounts.

Despite this, Robert Allbriton was never charged with a crime. While the bank paid civil penalties, no top executives - including Allbriton - faced personal prosecution.

I am not commenting on whether Pinochet was "good" or "bad."

I am commenting on that the man who evaded any accountability in foreign money laundering is now funding a journalism institute to "defend democracy."

And, yes, Robert Allbriton is personally implicated in this.… pic.twitter.com/k3zUpYDILZ

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) May 20, 2025