Why do countless headlines focus on Russian collusion rather than on Qatari hacking, media manipulation, think tank funding, and terror sponsorship?

It’s one of the central questions raised in “Blood Money,” the new documentary by journalist Mike Cernovich. In 23 fast-paced minutes, Cernovich dissects the web of Qatar’s influence-buying campaign on U.S. soil with interspersed commentary from security experts J. Michael Waller, vice president of the Center for Security Policy; David Reaboi, senior vice president of the Security Studies Group; and Jack Posobiec, a host for the One America News Network.

What makes Cernovich an authoritative voice on information warfare? In some respects, it’s personal. Last October, Wired magazine’s Molly McKew wrote a piece accusing him — and Posobiec — of being “information terrorists” on the Russian interference issue. Yet Cernovich maintains he has “never lobbied on behalf of a foreign nation,” unlike McKew herself, who was a lobbyist for the United Democratic Party of Moldova as well as the former president of Georgia. He also saw political consultant Doug Schoen, a registered foreign agent for Ukraine, go on Fox News to praise Ukraine and slam Russia.

“And then of course I found out that every media outlet plays the same game,” says Cernovich.

It all got him thinking: Exactly how widespread is this foreign influence problem?

Cernovich’s research pointed him to Qatar — which was validated by the warnings he says were sent his way that making this film “would come at great risk to my life, to my safety, and that I’d better have ‘everything locked down tightly.’” Meanwhile, when he raised the subject of the film with one political reporter, the reporter swiftly asked him: “Who’s paying you?” Cernovich responded “nobody,” yet explains that the reporter’s question underscores just how pervasive the influence-buying epidemic has become in Washington.