Max Primorac, former acting chief operating officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), testified before Congress that the Biden administration ditched strict vetting procedures put in place during the first Trump administration. This move allowed "vast sums of money" to go to Middle Eastern countries that ended up funding terrorists.
"I approved strong vetting policies for humanitarian assistance in countries swarming with terrorists. That, too, was ignored by the Biden administration," Primorac told a Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency hearing on foreign aid. He also said "vast sums of U.S. money have been diverted to fund terrorists in Gaza, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan" and that "NGOs have been hit with heavy fines for violating our anti-terrorism financing laws."
The concerns about USAID are well founded. The NGO's receiving USAID money and then delivering cash to terrorist groups and terrorist front organizations deserve a full congressional investigation.
The Middle East Forum has been tracking these payments for years. Their executive director, Greg Roman, also testified before the subcommittee. Roman testified that USAID gave a $125,000 grant to the Islamic Relief Agency, "an entity linked to al Qaeda, even after a whistleblower raised red flags." Another group, Helping Hand for Relief and Development, received a $78,000 grant "despite openly working with the terrorists who orchestrated the 2008 Mumbai massacre in India."
USAID money also went to Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon, which the U.S. Department of the Treasury later designated as a sponsor of the terrorist group Hezbollah. In another example, the agency funded the Gazan charity Bayader and Unlimited Friends Association, whose officials have called for the region to be "cleansed" of the "impurity of the Jews," and which maintains close relations with Hamas leadership, according to Roman.
He said federal workers who approved such grants should be liable for criminal charges under anti-terrorism financing laws.
"This is a threat to American national security and potentially criminal, and this committee should take action to ensure that the Department of Justice acts on it, and does everything in Congress's power to not just investigate but refer criminal actions to the proper authorities," said Roman.
A little perspective: The USAID budget is $40 billion. Much of that money goes to feed about 200 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who are starving to death. The funds sent to terrorists represent a tiny fraction of the agency's budget.
Exclusively for our VIPs: How the Red Cross Failures in Gaza Embolden Dictators Elswhere
Can we feed the hungry without funding terrorists? The entire foreign aid system, not just USAID but also aid programs in the State Department, the Agriculture Department, the Commerce Department — every department in the executive branch that sends money overseas — needs to be reformed, consolidated, or ended.
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, said the U.S. Agency for International Development also paid $1 million of American taxpayers’ money to a Ukrainian carpet company, $255,000 to an organic coffee and tea producer and $150,000 to a knitwear company.
There are thousands of USAID contracts that fund idiotic programs.
"A Ukrainian pickle outfit received $148,000, a meatpacking plant got $319,000 and a Ukrainian vineyard got $89,000," Senator Ernst said.
Altruism is a fine thing. However, the way foreign aid is set up now is corrupt, wasteful, and, most importantly, does not serve the interests of the United States.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member