David Brock built Media Matters to destroy conservative news outlets.
Now he's building fake news ones.
What investigators just found landing in Virginia mailboxes is one of the most brazen election schemes this country has ever seen.
The Virginia Independent Is a Democrat Dark Money Operation
It shows up in your mailbox like a real paper. Local bylines. Community recipes. A section on therapy dogs. A high school science project.
And then buried inside – wall-to-wall propaganda for the Virginia Democrats redistricting scheme, dressed up as community journalism.
The Virginia Independent is not a newspaper. It operates out of a P.O. Box. It's a product of American Independent Media – a well-funded network of Democrat operatives headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Its 501(c)(3) arm is owned by David Brock himself – longtime Clinton ally, founder of Media Matters, and the man who built an entire media empire dedicated to destroying conservative voices in American media.
Pilar Martinez, the CFO of Media Matters, serves as CFO of American Independent Media. Bradley Beychok, the former president of Media Matters, served as president of American Independent Media until 2024.
The outfit's incorporation was handled by Katherine LaBeau, a partner at Elias Law Group – the firm of Marc Elias, the man who commissioned the Steele dossier and has spent his career rigging elections through the courts.
This is not a coincidence. This is a machine.
How David Brock Hid Democrat Operatives Inside the Virginia Redistricting Story
The Virginia Independent ran a series of profiles ahead of the April 21 vote – ordinary Virginians explaining why they support redistricting.
Four profiles. Four ordinary Virginians with heartfelt opinions about redistricting – or so the paper wanted you to believe.
The retiree from Mathews County once ran for the Virginia House of Delegates as a Democrat. The Southside nurse is the current vice chair of the Mecklenburg County Democrat Committee. The Virginia Beach veteran chairs the Virginia Democrat Party's veterans and military families caucus. The Lancaster small-business owner runs the Lancaster County Democrats.
Every single one – a Democrat Party operative. Not one word of disclosure.
In March alone, the Virginia Independent published 14 separate pieces pushing the redistricting referendum.
One called Republican opposition "MAGA misinformation." Another declared the amendment "could change Congress for the better." The front page featured Barack Obama – mirroring his paid TV ads running in the Virginia market at the exact same moment.
They even ran a story quoting a Charlottesville dog groomer blaming Republicans for her financial struggles – never mentioning she had appeared the previous day on a panel organized by Protect Our Care, a pro-Obamacare war room. Protect Our Care's executive director is Brad Woodhouse, the former president of the American Bridge 21st Century Foundation – the same dark money group bankrolling the entire Virginia Independent operation.
One hand washes the other. Always.
The Democrat Gerrymander That Would Flip Four House Seats on April 21
Virginia has a bipartisan redistricting commission. Voters approved it in 2020 by a landslide. Democrats are trying to dissolve that commission – temporarily, they claim – to hand map-drawing back to the Democrat-controlled legislature.
The map they've already drawn would favor Democrats in 10 out of 11 congressional districts. Virginia currently sends six Democrats and five Republicans to Congress.
That's four seats flipped. Four. In a single vote.
And David Brock tried to make it happen with a recipe section and a story about therapy dogs.
Capital Research Center's Michael Watson tracked what this operation actually costs: the American Independent Foundation went from $18 million in revenue in 2023 to more than $58 million in 2024.
They tripled in size in one year. Not because their journalism got better. Because the 2026 election got closer.
The Marc Elias and Media Matters Connection Virginia Voters Need to Know
Democrats don't send a brochure that says "Vote Yes for Democrat Gerrymandering."
They send a newspaper. With a recipe. And therapy dogs. And a high school science project. And then buried inside – propaganda from Democrat Party officials introduced as your neighbors.
They want to fool Virginia voters with a publication they hope doesn’t get ignored like most partisan political advertising.
Marc Elias – the man who commissioned the Steele dossier and got fined by the FEC for hiding it as a legal expense – incorporated this operation. David Brock – who built Media Matters specifically to destroy conservative media – owns it. They dropped it in your mailbox without a single word disclosing who paid for it.
They've run the same play in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. Virginia is just the latest stop.
Conservative activist Scott Presler stood in front of 90 people at Mom's Kitchen in Virginia Beach this week and told them the truth: Republican early voting is outpacing Democrats in every single district those Republicans currently hold. The votes are still on the table. This is winnable.
But you have to know what just landed in your mailbox – and who put it there.
Sources:
- Mia Cathell, "Local independent pro-redistricting outlet in Virginia is owned by Democrats," Washington Examiner, April 2, 2026.
- Breccan F. Thies, "Left-Wing Propagandists Send Virginians Fake Newspaper Promoting Democrat Gerrymander," The Federalist, March 24, 2026.
- Dan Egitto, "The latest twist in Virginia's redistricting battle: a pink slime newspaper in Arlington," ARLnow, March 24, 2026.
- Staff, "Virginia Democrats sweat early voting returns on redistricting referendum," Washington Times, April 1, 2026.
- Houston Keene, "DCCC, Marc Elias firm accused of apparent civil violations of federal election law," Fox News, April 17, 2023.
