"We will not comply with your investigation."
-
It's only a billion dollars in Afghanistan:
The State Department says it will not comply with a government watchdog’s investigation into how more than $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds was spent in Afghanistan since the Taliban terror group retook control of the country.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a government watchdog established in 2008 to perform oversight on America’s $146 billion reconstruction project in the war-torn country, announced that for the first time in its history, the State and Treasury Departments will not comply with its investigations.
"SIGAR, for the first time in its history, is unable this quarter to provide Congress and the American people with a full accounting of this U.S. government spending due to the non-cooperation of U.S. agencies," the watchdog disclosed in its latest report to Congress. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which allocates American aid, "and the Treasury Department refused to cooperate with SIGAR in any capacity, while the State Department was selective in the information it provided pursuant to SIGAR’s audit and quarterly data requests."
SIGAR says the Biden administration’s refusal to cooperate with its investigation into the allocation of $1.1 billion in taxpayer funds since the Taliban regained power constitutes a "direct violation" of the watchdog group’s congressional mandate. The administration also is withholding evidence related to the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government, as well as information about whether the State Department is complying with laws prohibiting the transfer of American funds to the Taliban. "No federal agency has challenged SIGAR’s authority to conduct oversight of such programs until now," the watchdog agency said.
The standoff is the latest controversy surrounding the Biden administration’s botched 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, which left 13 Americans dead and thousands more stranded in the Taliban-controlled country. The administration also has stonewalled congressional investigations into the matter, including probes into its decision to abandon around $7 billion worth of advanced American military equipment inside Afghanistan.
A State Department official further "informed SIGAR that department staff have received internal direction to not engage with or speak to SIGAR without prior clearance from State legal counsel," a directive that violates laws meant to protect government whistleblowers and protect SIGAR’s investigation power, according to the report.
"You don't have the authority to look at that."
When asked about the dispute earlier this month, State Department spokesman Ned Price made clear that U.S officials will block SIGAR’s oversight efforts.
"Our position is that, except for certain specific funds, SIGAR’s statutory mandate is limited to funds available for, quote, ‘the reconstruction of Afghanistan,’" Price said. "SIGAR’s current work does not appear to fall under its statutory mandate to oversee the funds for, quote, ‘the reconstruction of Afghanistan.’"
Rules? Laws? Oversight? Accountability? Taxpayer money? Taliban?
Meh, who cares...
-
SIGAR can sue, or Congress can pass another law more clearly giving SIGAR the authority the uncooperative agencies claim SIGAR does not currently have.
Sunshine, disinfectant ... just get the investigation done and lay out all the facts for the American people.
-
Depends on who you are.
Jon's Justice Department is quite selective...
