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USAID spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' money on Ukrainian producers of "marine" or animal accessories
USAID spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' money on Ukrainian producers of "marine" or animal accessories
26 February 2025
Jordan Boyd
USID spent millions of dollars on American taxpayers supporting projects for pets specified as the production of dog collars and the production of pickles in Ukraine, and then spent months blocking legislature members on these expenses, as agreed by The Federalist.
Senator Joni Ernst's staff discovered secret funds erstwhile after months of abolishing agency's excuses to justify their opposition to supervision, they were yet allowed to access "very limited data". In October 2024, as Ernst has since described in detail, the senator's staff personally visited the U.S.ID office for a "closed door review" of data on Ukraine's assistance, even though, as her squad discovered,The papers were not classified.
Although they were heavy limited during the investigation, Ernst's squad discovered various grants financed by US taxpayers, which were transferred to Ukrainian companies under cover of both the economical Competitiveness Programme () and Investment for Business Resilience funds.
Among the grants that Ernst's employees discovered were hundreds of thousands of dollars for literal pet projectsof which
about $300,000 for "a pet tracking app",
around $300,000 for "dog collar manufacturer" and
around $109,000 for "a maker of pet food packaging",
Fashionists besides benefited from expenditure financed by taxpayers on
women's clothing company,
fashion photographer,
"the supplier of modern knitwear",
"The Luxury Wedding Brand,"
"design marketplace for craft products", and even
"trade mission to the fashion house,"
collecting a full of about $733,000.
Designers, including
"a customized carpet manufacturer" which received about $2,000,000, and
two different lines of furniture that received $14,000 and $91,000 respectively,
They besides joined the frenzy of funding.
Even the gourmets were given American cash.
Even the gourmets were given American cash.
"Commercial mission for spice producer" cost taxpayers about $94,000,
"a silage producer" received about $18,800,000,
The maker of organic coffee and tea received about $255 000,
The vineyard raised $89,000, and
"a crafts company producing fruit tea" raised $104,000
USAID besides admitted
"specialist cookie and candy company" about $678,000 – almost as much payer dollars as the aforementioned food subsidies taken together – and
a meat packing plant about $319,000.
USAID "did not deliver any of these documents" to Ernst's employees but "review at closed doors". USAID besides frequently cites exceptions for national safety reasons to avoid disclosing controversial allegations on its public tracker "foreign aid".
In a letter dated 4 February to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose department took over the USAID on instructions from the White home in early February, Ernst wrote that USAID grants, specified as funds, are aimed at
"to strengthen Ukraine's position during the war by expanding Ukrainian companies' sales in fresh markets".
"Instead, the American people funded extravagant trade missions and holidays for Ukrainian business owners for movie festivals and fashion weeks in the luxury capitals of Europe and beyond" – she wrote.
The U.S.ID spending study on Ukraine appears at a time erstwhile the agency is under fire for spending heavy earned American money on abroad DEI initiatives,
reinforcements for terrorists,
global censorship,
pottery lessons,
modeling tours and even
Iraqi Sesame Street
In November 2022 Ernst first pressed the USAID on how he utilized taxation money to pay the administrative facilities and costs set out in the negotiated indirect cost agreements (NICRA). In April 2023, Ernst and Republican Congressman Michael McCaul exercised their powers in legislature to exert force on the USAID over billions of US taxes that had been flowing through NICRA since 2021.
In November 2023, Ernst demanded that USAID admin Samantha Power supply key information on the spending of her agency – in peculiar Ukraine – but later stated that Power "refused to give clear or substantive answers".
In March 2024, the Republican presented a Congressional Act aimed at putting an end to USID abuses on taxpayers' money. Saga continued in 2024 erstwhile Ernst asked the Inspector-General to examine the USAID spending.
Ernst told The Federalist in a message that "USAID rebelled".
"As we discover more and more waste, fraud and abuse, it is clear why the agency was so desperate to block my efforts to uncover how it spent taxpayers' money," she said. "Foreign aid must favour America's interests, not fill pockets of suspicious abroad companies and contractors".
/thefederalist.com/2025/02/26/exclusive-usaid-blew-hundreds-of-thousands-in-taxpayer-slush-funds-on-Ukrainian-pickle-maker-pet-accessories/
