The State Department is going to federal court to cover up just who in Gaza received millions of taxpayer dollars.
The non-profit public interest law firm Judicial Watch reports it is taking USAID to court as the agency “continues to hide the identities of recipients of $27 million in grants awarded to ‘Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees’ that were designated for use in Gaza.”
“Americans have a right to know who in Gaza is getting our money from USAID. It is shocking that Marco Rubio’s State Department is hiding this information,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “Transparency on USAID’s Gaza funding could be critical to protecting the national security of the U.S. and Israel.”
Judicial Watch reports it first “sued in July 2024 after the USAID failed to respond to an April 2, 2024, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Agency for International Development (No. 1:24-cv-02159)) that asks for:
All records identifying the recipients of USAID funding under the $7,000,000 grant allocation awarded on or about November 15, 2023, and associated with Federal Award Identification Number 720BHA24GR00005.
All proposals, applications, scope of work documents, or similar records related to any grant award or sub-award associated with Federal Award Identification Number 720BHA24GR00005.
“USAID has produced records but refuses to disclose what organizations received the money,” Judicial Watch reports, adding, “USAID justifies its secrecy as protecting trade secrets, financial information, and privacy:”
(b)(4) Program design elements, technical approaches, detailed implementation plans, and related financial information is business confidential information. If released, the availability of this information to the public will cause substantial harm to awardee’s competitive position in the private voluntary organization community.
(b)(6) Parties to the conflict in Gaza have specifically targeted and killed aid workers, targeted relief agency operations and targeted and destroyed health facilities and other civilians targets. Due to highly challenging and unpredictable operating environments for humanitarian organizations, this exemption is required to protect the employees and beneficiaries of the NGOs working in Gaza from harassment and violence.
Disclosure of the name of the NGO would allow third‐parties to determine the identities of the employees and beneficiaries.
(b)(6) Personal information to include names, job titles and emails due to safety & security concerns
Judicial Watch reveals “on November 15, 2023, the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, a component of the USAID, issued a $7 million grant for ‘multisectoral response in Gaza.’ The grant was awarded to ‘Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees.’ The same day a ‘continuation’ grant of $20 million was also issued for ‘multisectoral response.’ USAID reported that over $282 million was obligated to the West Bank and Gaza in fiscal year 2023.”
“President Trump recently fired Paul Martin, USAID inspector general, after he published a report that was critical of the Trump administration’s pause on aid,” Judicial Watch reports. “It was recently discovered that USAID provided ‘millions of dollars in funding to extremist groups tied to designated terrorist organizations and their allies, according to a report published by Middle East Forum, a U.S. think tank.’”
Judicial Watch further reveals “in July 2024, the Office of the Inspector General for USAID issued a report titled ‘Assessment of USAID’s Oversight Policies to Prevent the Diversion of Assistance to Hamas and Other Terrorist Organizations’ in which it states:”
The USAID Office of Inspector General (USAID OIG) provides independent oversight of USAID’s programs, operations, and personnel and haspreviously identified USAID-funded assistance to Gaza as being at high risk for diversion and misuse.
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Regarding the UN’s processes for vetting their own staff, USAID Administrator Samantha Power noted—following allegations that officials working for UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] engaged in the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel—“obviously the vetting is something that has to be significantly strengthened.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
And this is why USAID needs to be shut down.
We have the right to know who received our money. Just sue the individuals want to keep everything secret.
So now we have to be worried about the new cabinet and leaders hiding information?????? Will this turn out to be corruption 102?