Officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as their grantees could potentially face criminal charges for foreign aid fraud after the agency's deputy administrator-designate found that the abuse of taxpayer funds was far worse than first reported, according to several news outlets.
During a confidential briefing Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Acting USAID Chief Pete Marocco, a Trump appointee, reportedly told Congress he is considering criminal referrals regarding fraudulent spending activities within the U.S. international aid agency.
"Apparently, there's still judicial action that has even come out as late as this morning," committee member Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), who was in the closed-door meeting, told The Daily Mail in an interview.
"They intend to refer USAID officials to DOJ," the congressman shared, noting how fraud is "a criminal act."
Federal charges could then be filed against those involved on either end of the cash flow, per Self's account.
Marocco, according to Self, left open the possibility that both USAID staff and their grant recipients are subject to these recommendations for federal prosecution.
"If they are detecting outright fraud, not just bad programs, not just ignoble programs, not just programs that don't support the national interest of the United States, if they're finding fraud, then absolutely the wrongdoers should be prosecuted," Self said.
Self reckoned that the Trump administration would not float this threat unless they have hard-copy evidence.
"You're going to have to have a paper trail to prove that," Self said of the allegations. "And I doubt that they would refer anyone without a very strong paper trail."
Another source present at the congressional proceedings confirmed the potential for legal action and noted that Marocco revealed an even more egregious situation afoot.
"Marocco briefed the full House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democrats and Republicans, that the waste, fraud, and abuse at USAID was more severe than initially presumed," the source shared with The Daily Mail.
According to the source, Marocco disclosed that "multiple" referrals to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are under consideration.
"The conduct in question arose because of USAID's decentralized accountability system that often left grantees on the ground using American tax dollars in ways that were both inappropriate and potentially illegal," the source said.
This week, The New York Times also reported that Marocco is eyeing criminal charges.
While an internal review is still in its early stages, members of Marocco's staff are preparing the paperwork to criminally recommend individuals who misused taxpayer money earmarked for foreign development programs, sources told The Times.
Marocco's team believes they've uncovered a pattern of illegal activity at the agency, the sources said. Currently, they're looking into contracts and grants the agency awarded as part of a sprawling network of U.S. taxpayer-funded programs around the world.
After exiting the meeting, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the foreign affairs panel, told The Times that Marocco thinks USAID is structured in such a way that makes accountability difficult.
"Mr. Marocco was very clear in exposing the waste that goes on out there and in pointing out the way that many of these programs in state and USAID were designed to not be accountable," Mast said in brief remarks following Marocco's appearance on Capitol Hill.
Self told The Washington Examiner that though there was "a brief mention" of litigation and "no specifics," indeed "they are considering referrals to DOJ."
"If they're telling members of Congress that they are even considering a referral, I would think they've got a pretty good case or they think they've got a pretty good case," Self said. "We go by the rule of law, so if there's criminal activity, I would expect them to refer them to a DA, DOJ, AG, somebody. It's as simple as that. I'm not thinking about it in terms of agenda. I'm thinking about it in terms of the rule of law."
Two others confirmed that Marocco mentioned criminal referrals but similarly did not dive into details.
"It is in response to mismanagement of aid and fraud, waste and abuse that potentially rose to the level of criminality," one of the sources said.
A second source added: "It's the end result of the rot at USAID and the Trump admin cleaning it out and exposing this."
In conversations with The Hill, congressional Democrats complained that the briefing happened behind closed doors, lasted only an hour, and allowed each lawmaker just 30 seconds to ask questions, with few, if any, follow-ups permitted. Marocco accordingly had two minutes to answer every question.
Last month, the same committee held a hearing where several House Republicans brought the jaw-dropping receipts documenting USAID's widespread wasteful use of American tax dollars, including $65.7 million spent on vasectomies in the Congo and $14.9 million allocated toward "enhanc[ing] the leadership" skills of LGBTQ-identifying Cambodians, to name a few.
DOGE is finding billions of dollars in wasteful spending, and the Democrats are losing their minds as they realize their gravy train and woke projects are coming to an end.
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