Republicans on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday demanded government agencies dolling out billions in military and financial aid to Ukraine provide documentation ensuring the funds are being protected from scams.
The increased call for scrutiny on Ukrainian aid comes as President Biden wraps up his three-day visit to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of that country. Mr. Biden made a surprise trip to Ukraine, where he walked the streets of Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, then traveled to Poland to reaffirm the West’s commitment against Russian aggression.
In Washington, Republicans said the $113 billion the U.S. has provided Ukraine must be audited to prevent the funds from falling into terrorists’ hands or lining the pockets of corrupt officials.
“It is critical that government agencies administering these funds ensure they are used for their intended purposes to prevent and reduce the risk of waste, fraud and abuse,” Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican, wrote in a letter to several government agencies.
The lawmakers asked for documentation from the Defense Department, State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development on how they are conducting oversight of the funds.
Mr. Comer asked the agencies to turn over all documents related to monitoring the distribution of economic or security assistance, materials related to any anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine and information about funds given to outside agencies to distribute to Ukrainians.
A State Department spokesperson said the agency doesn’t comment on letters from Congress, but added it has implemented “robust accountability measures and oversight” for foreign aid.
The spokesperson added that the State Department would welcome additional assistance to increase its oversight, including through inspectors general.
“The United States takes very seriously our responsibility to ensure appropriate oversight of all U.S. assistance. We are actively engaged with the government of Ukraine to ensure accountability, even amidst the challenging conflict environment,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Washington Times.
Spokespeople for the Defense Department and USAID did not respond to requests for comment.
The White House has bristled at the suggestion that aid provided to Ukraine is not going to its intended purposes.
“We have not seen any signs that our budgetary assistance has fallen prey to any kind of corruption in Ukraine. I would go so far as to say the same on the security assistance side as well,” national security spokesman John Kirby said last month.
But Mr. Zelenskyy last month fired nine top officials amid claims they accepted bribes and splurged on lavish lifestyles during the war. All told, four deputy ministers and five regional governors were sacked after they were accused of taking luxury vacations while their countrymen fend off Russia’s invasion.
One of the fired officials was accused of vacationing in Spain using a Mercedes owned by a prominent Ukrainian businessman, while another official allegedly partied in Paris while the war raged.
Mr. Comer said those allegations underscore the need to scrutinize the funds headed to Ukraine.
“Providing security and humanitarian assistance for warfighting and reconstruction purposes comes with an inherent risk of fraud, waste and abuse,” Mr. Comer wrote. “The United States must identify these risks and develop oversight mechanisms to mitigate them. We learned from efforts in Afghanistan that the World Bank does not always have effective monitoring and accounting of funds and often lacks transparency.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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