On Sunday, Just The News posted an article about some of the abuses that are being uncovered in the spending of taxpayer money in previous administrations. As the national debt continues to grow, how much of that is actually fraud?

The article reports:

A half billion dollar fraud and bribery scheme conducted by a USAID contract officer and three conspirators that went undetected for a decade. American-bought equipment stolen by a terror group. Millions of dollars in food that spoiled in warehouses. These are but a few of the wasteful — if not corrupt ways — millions of USAID dollars have been lost.

While President Donald Trump has sharply cut foreign aid from the auspices of USAID and shifted what remains to the State Department, the massive abuse of America’s generosity to foreign countries over a decade of Obama-Biden governance is coming into clearer focus. 

A Just the News review of audits and investigations of the USAID and State Department inspectors general over the last year chronicles billions of dollars lost, stolen, defrauded, or wasted because of mismanagement or years of neglect.

The article lists some of the instances where taxpayer money was given to terrorists or their organizations:

For instance, the USAID inspector general recently revealed that the federal government kept funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) despite evidence that 101 of its employees or associates had ties to terror groups like Hamas, including: 

• •  A deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion.
  • A deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion. 
  • A teacher serving as squad leader in Hamas’ military security department/intelligence unit who tracked assignment of explosive devices.
  • A teacher serving as a platoon commander of the Central Brigade/Al Quds 2nd Battalion.
  • A math & computer teacher with ties to an al-Qassam intelligence squad.
  • A teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas.
  • A teacher and Hamas soldier with orders to bring two anti-tank missiles to a prescribed location during the October 7 terror attacks
  • A school principal who served as an operative of the Hamas East Jabaliya Battalion, and coordinated communications with other suspected Hamas members during the October 7, 2023 atrocities committed against Israel 

The article concludes:

In the scheme that dates to the Obama-era of foreign aid, a federal contracting officer and three businessmen pleaded guilty to bribes involving cash, NBA tickets, and a country club wedding to secure lucrative contracts that totaled about $550 million.

The defendants were about to score again in November 2023 under President Joe Biden’s open border policies, with one of their companies being awarded a contract worth up to $800 million to among other things address “a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States.”

USAID’s watchdog, however, prompted the cancellation of the contract based on “evidence of conduct of a lack of business honesty or integrity.”

We could balance the budget if we got rid of the fraud.