Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL) had some strong words on X (formerly Twitter) in response to four USAID employees for being convicted in a $550 million bribery scheme running through the agency.
"SHOCKER!" Rep. Cammack posted, followed by an eye-rolling emoji indicating sarcasm. "Four former USAID employees plead guilty in a $550M bribery scandal. This is the same agency Democrats fought to shield from DOGE's push to root out waste, fraud, and abuse. This is corruption, plain and simple, and American taxpayers are footing the bill. No more!"
As the Fox News article linked to her post described, Roderick Watson, a federal contracting officer, and three businessmen (Vistant owner Walter Barnes, Apprio owner Darryl Britt, and subcontractor Paul Young) engaged in wide-scale bribery.
Watson sold his influence to Barnes and Britt while Young covered their tracks. Watson received cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, down payments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives.
Notably, Vistant was awarded an $800 million contract by the Biden Administration in November 2023 to study migration into the United States from Central and South America.
USAID was a significant target of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier in the spring, with many Republicans previously voicing discontent toward the organization for pushing wokeness abroad.
Hence, in February, Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) introduced a bill to abolish the organization altogether, stating, "For too long, USAID has funneled billions of American tax dollars into bloated, inefficient foreign aid programs that are riddled with waste, corruption, and ideological bias."
In March, the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by President Donald Trump to withhold $2 billion in USAID funds, which Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch called "a most unfortunate misstep that rewards an act of judicial hubris and imposes a $2 billion penalty on American taxpayers."
