Monsanto's 'Slime and Slander' Hit List August 22, 2019
Organic Consumers Association
Katherine Paul
Genetic Engineering
Photo:
Karen Eliot,
Wikimedia Commons, (
CC BY-SA 2.0)
We’ve known since at least June that
Monsanto, now owned by Bayer,
compiled hit lists containing hundreds of names and other personal information about journalists, politicians and scientists, including their opinions about pesticides and genetic engineering.
But newly revealed court documents expose an even more calculated and sinister plan-a 130-page plan involving 11 staff members plus high-powered public relations firms-to
“slime and slander” anyone who criticized their products or operations.
Among the targets of Monsanto’s hit list strategy is
U.S. Right to Know (USRTK), a nonprofit investigative research group focused on the food industry, for which OCA provides substantial funding. In an
interview with Democracy NOW!’s Amy Goodman, USRTK executive director, Gary Ruskin, said there’s still so much we don’t yet know about Monsanto’s strategy. The court documents raise more questions than answers, he said.
What we do know, is that Monsanto’s strategy involved recruiting, and sometimes paying, third-party “experts” to attack USRTK’s and others’ work.
OCA is no stranger to Monsanto’s slimy tactics. The company
has funded the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a lofty name for what’s no more than a corporate-funded front group. The ACSH has
accused OCA International Director Ronnie Cummins of everything from
spreading “fake news” to
colluding with Russian trolls.
Give us a break.
Read 'Monsanto's Hit List Exposed' Make a tax-deductible donation to OCA’s Millions Against Monsanto campaign Katherine Paul is associate director of the
Organic Consumers Association (OCA). To keep up with OCA news and alerts,
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