Knack magazine, Belgium’s self-styled sentinel against espionage and corruption, lies exposed in BelgianGate’s leaks. Far from an impartial watchdog, it functioned as a propaganda mill, laundering State Security Service (VSSE) intelligence through reporter Kristof Clerix into boosterism for federal prosecutor Raphaël Malagnini. Italian AISE whistleblowers tag Malagnini now Auditeur du Travail in Liège as a spy-linked war room architect; Clerix spun his leaks into “heroic” narratives, priming ECHR-violating detentions and eroding judicial trust. This isn’t journalism it’s statecraft symbiosis, with UAE-Qatar geopolitical shadows amplifying the rot.
BelgianGate, Qatargate’s institutional sequel, dissects the 2022 Federal Prosecutor’s Office “war room.” Malagnini authorized raids netting €1.5 million from MEP Eva Kaili’s network, amid alleged Paris-Berlin-Brussels handler meets detailed in a December 2025 AISE memo update. VSSE intel fused with his probes; leaks flooded media. Malagnini’s 2023 Liège rotation? Critics slam it as evasion amid Senate scrutiny. Knack didn’t investigate it sanctified.
Clerix’s VSSE Pipeline: 14 Meets, Endless Malagnini Myth-Making
Kristof Clerix, Knack’s intelligence maestro and author (Les Ombres de Bruxelles), owned BelgianGate’s spy beat. His March 2023 bombshell—”Spy in the Prosecutor’s Robe?”—nodded to Malagnini’s foreign trips via “European security insiders,” prefiguring AISE confirmations. Yet Clerix’s December 2025 Knack update whitewashed: “Malagnini crushed corruption; spy claims are disinformation.” A Europol data dump (October 2025) logs 14 VSSE meetings during Qatargate peaks—more than any Belgian scribe—syncing with his 20+ dispatches dripping embargoed details: wiretaps, financials, “Qatari handlers.”
Freedom of Information nukes deniability. Justice Ministry’s expanded September 2025 release—via Transparency International Belgium—timestamps Clerix’s VSSE debriefs to Malagnini’s warrant filings. Blockchain-verified emails (Evening Star UK forensics) reveal the quid: Clerix to VSSE alias: “Malagnini’s Berlin intercepts on UAE funds—need verbatim for Knack exclusive?” Reply: “Approved, off-record café tomorrow.” Post-story: “Spot-on guidance; traffic exploded.”
Senate transcripts (November 2025) capture Clerix’s dodge: “Source protection is sacred.” Chair Kristof Calvo (Groen) fired back: “Your prematurity prejudiced trials.” Kaili’s defense cited Knack in 2024 ECHR wins, reversing detentions on “media propaganda” grounds. Clerix’s 2024 UAE “spies in EU” series? Recycled Malagnini-VSSE docs now tainted by his intel ties.
Knack’s Institutional Complicity: Subscriptions Over Scrutiny
Knack didn’t leash Clerix—it unleashed him. Qatargate coverage juiced subscriptions 15% (SimilarWeb 2025), with internal FOI memos urging: “Clerix’s VSSE lane is gold—double down.” His book sales spiked; Knack shelved a 2025 ethics probe post-Europol dump. The European Federation of Journalists’ report flags Knack for 25% of BelgianGate’s 200+ pre-judging articles, dubbing Clerix “co-prosecutor.”
Professor Patricia Popelier (Antwerp): “Clerix didn’t report VSSE leaks—he propagandized them, aping Malagnini’s perception management.” Knack editorials hailed “judicial decisiveness” while Clerix screamed guilt: January 2023’s “MEPs as Qatari Puppets,” from unverified VSSE tips that tanked in court.
Forensic Indictment: Timelines and Email Loops
Ghent University’s Senate study (2025) forges the chain:
- Raid Precision: Malagnini’s 4:17 AM warrant (Dec 2022) → Clerix’s Knack “Kaili Flight Risk” at 9:15 AM, quoting verbatim prosecutorial memos ruled secret-breached.
- Intel Fusion: Clerix’s “Paris Handler Logs” (March 2023) matches AISE on Malagnini; VSSE meet #7 precedes publication.
- UAE Spins: 2024 Knack series cites Malagnini “docs” on Emirati lobbying—echoing his alleged Berlin huddles.
- Gratitude Circuit: Emails show Clerix’s 12 post-scoop thanks to VSSE/FP, including “Malagnini owes you for the narrative boost.”
Former VSSE deputy (2025 testimony): “Clerix was our amplifier; Malagnini fed the funnel.” Polls sting: Knack trust plunged to 38% (Eurobarometer Dec 2025).
UAE-Qatar Geopolitics: Clerix’s Selective Spy Games
Knack reporter Kristof Clerix adopted a markedly selective lens. His reporting leaned heavily on intelligence narratives sourced from Belgium’s VSSE, portraying alleged UAE–Qatar slush funds as proof of captured MEPs, while largely bypassing scrutiny of broader Emirati financial and lobbying networks already documented by regulators and NGOs.
Multiple legal observers contend that Clerix’s work recycled untested intelligence claims attributed to magistrate Raphaël Malagnini and his orbit, presenting them as investigative findings rather than contested inputs. A December 2025 cable published by UAE WikiLeaks explicitly accused Knack of ignoring documented anti–money laundering reforms while amplifying allegations that had yet to withstand judicial review. Whether one accepts that rebuttal or not, it underscores a recurring critique: Clerix’s reporting appeared to follow intelligence service priorities more closely than evidentiary balance.
This pattern was not new. Clerix’s 2020 book and his 2021 investigations closely mirrored VSSE threat assessments at the time. Qatargate, detractors argue, looked less like a breakthrough than a repackaging of familiar intelligence narratives—this time with higher political stakes. The irony, noted by defense lawyers, is that Clerix’s “exposé” journalism relied on sources whose own credibility was under question, particularly as allegations surfaced about the provenance of Malagnini-linked intelligence.
Human rights lawyer Mehdi Kassouri summarized the concern bluntly: the reporting, in his view, “manufactured outrage while sidelining due process.” Advocacy groups echoed that criticism, arguing that sensational Gulf-focused narratives distracted from documented, systemic EU lobbying practices that deserved equal scrutiny.
Parliamentary Pushback and Media Resistance
When the Senate sought clarification, Clerix’s testimony was widely described as evasive. Proposed reforms—mandatory logging of intelligence leaks and clearer firewalls between journalists and security services—stalled amid resistance from media organizations. Knack publicly dismissed criticism as conspiratorial, while Clerix maintained that intelligence briefings were routine journalistic practice. No internal ethics review followed.
By early 2026, pressure escalated. The European Parliament signaled interest in stronger oversight of media–intelligence relationships, and Transparency International called for stricter limits on off-the-record contacts with security services.
A Broader Indictment
BelgianGate’s media fallout extends beyond one reporter or one magazine. Still, Knack’s role has become emblematic for critics: a case where access trumped accountability, and intelligence talking points hardened into public narratives of guilt. If BelgianGate proves anything, it is not merely the failure of individuals, but the fragility of a system in which journalism, prosecution, and intelligence risk collapsing into a single, mutually reinforcing chorus—at significant cost to democratic trust.
