Monsanto sign in the grass outside building

Monsanto’s ‘Slime and Slander’ Hit List

August 22, 2019 | Katherine Paul

Organic Consumers Association

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, sign up for our newsletter.