| | | EXCLUSIVETrump considers criminal charges for USAID staff after DOGE uncovered wild 'abuse'
dailymail.co.uk
Federal workers at USAID could find themselves behind bars for fraud after DOGE uncovered a massive spending scandal at the program, DailyMail.com has learned
Pete Marocco, deputy administrator-designate at USAID, provided the House Foreign Affairs Committee with a briefing on Capitol Hill Wednesday while discussing the review of foreign aid implemented by President Donald Trump.
Marocco told the committee he is considering sending criminal recommendations to the Justice Department regarding actions within USAID being exposed by Elon Musk's DOGE.
'Apparently, there's still judicial action that has even come out as late as this morning,' Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, who was in the meeting, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
'They intend to refer USAID officials to DOJ,' he shared, noting how fraud 'is a criminal act.'
The Republican shared that Marocco left open the possibility that both USAID workers and grant recipients could be recommended for crimes.
'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, Rep. Self said.
'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.
'He told lawmakers that multiple referrals to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution were being considered,' they continued.
'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 disclosed.
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