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In a “scathing” letter to Antony Blinken, Iowa Senator Charles Grassley accused the State Department of showing “contempt” toward taxpayers. That may be a warning that Blinky could find himself facing “contempt of Congress” charges later. The senator is sitting on watchdog complaints “of $40 million in questionable aid to Afghanistan.”
Blinken on the hot-seat
Fox News got their hands on a copy of the letter which Senator Charles Grassley fired off to Minister of State Antony Blinken. They reported on March 17 that the letter was dated “this week” and “revealed that of the $40 million in aid” questioned by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, only “$19,000 was allowable by law.”
That screw up didn’t happen on Blinky’s watch. His failure is not clawing back as much as possible. As far as Grassley can tell, “only $191,000 of improperly spent aid was in the process of being returned to the government.”
Blinken has been botching things from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe for two years now. The only thing he has to show for it is anger from the Chinese, Russians, and the conservative half of America.
40 million taxpayer dollar$ used in Afghanistan went unaccounted 4 & State Dept has only recovered $19,000 of it so far State Dept foot dragging is embarrassing unacceptable & against federal law I’m asking Scty Blinken what his plan is to recover these costs ASAP
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 17, 2023
“In two years, that’s all you can show the taxpayer,” Grassley scolded, calling that “unacceptable.” The senator went on to remind that “compliance with rules, regulations, and laws — especially when dealing with taxpayer money — is a demand, not an option.”
Speaking of Afghanistan, Blinken took a whole lot of heat for all that pricey equipment we donated to the Taliban in August 2021. Grassley didn’t mention that. He had other money on his mind. The “State Department is among many agencies that have faced criticism for billions in taxpayer money wasted in Afghanistan reconstruction over nearly two decades.”
SIGAR “has tracked billions of dollars given to contractors or grantees to accomplish projects aimed at helping Afghanistan rebuild. Many of those projects failed or were improperly implemented.”
Where’s the cash
SIGAR sent Blinken a testy letter of their own on March 1. They were upset because “the State Department’s response to 2019 recommendations were significantly delayed.” It was beginning to look like foot dragging. During the past administration, their report in October 2019 identified “nearly $40 million in questioned costs, 20 instances of non-compliance with laws or regulations, and 24 deficiencies in internal controls.”
Blinky has apparently never even seen that report since he took charge. That has Grassley hopping mad because the list of funds was “extensive, embarrassing, and requires an immediate explanation.”
Blinken doesn’t seem to have time to do his job because he had to chase Chinese and Russian diplomats all over Europe in order to get a few minutes to talk to them. He’s avoided everywhere he goes like he’s infected with COVID. Blinken’s staff responded to SIGAR with a promise of future compliance.
“If [Sec. of State Antony Blinken] fails to cooperate with my document production request by…the time he testifies on March 23rd, I am prepared to issue a subpoena,” @RepMcCaul says, as the House continues investigating the 2021 U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/beC38hXfCW
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 12, 2023
They explained that the department “would not compile responses to all the recommendations in one report, but would respond to each recommendation individually.” They’re still working on question number one.
Grassley isn’t happy about the delay at all. He writes that Blinken and his crew’s “failure to fully address these recommendations for more than two years shows contempt toward the taxpayers who funded your activity.” Starting right now, the senator wants “rolling updates on the efforts to audit the questioned costs.”
Also, they need to come up with good “reasons for the cause of the two-year delay.” Oh, and by the way, throw in all the “records on the department’s efforts to collect the improperly spent money.” If there were any. “If this trend of delay or inaction continues, the total questioned costs, instances of noncompliance, and deficiencies will only increase with additional financial audits and further magnify our concerns.“
