A top ethics watchdog is going to court to find out why a taxpayer-funded African investment firm covered up records and blocked auditors from the “Department of Government Efficiency.”
The nonprofit public interest law firm Judicial Watch announced in a statement that it “filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) for records regarding its expenditures and deposits, as well as its attempt to block Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) audits.”
“For a small agency, there appears to be a very large number of questions to which American taxpayers deserve answers,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Judicial Watch reports it sued the African Development Foundation, created by Congress in 1980 to invest in small African businesses, “after it failed to respond to a July 7, 2025, FOIA request for communications, contracts, and grants ‘involving Ganiam Ltd. (Nairobi, Kenya) and Ganiam LLC (Fairfax, Virginia).’”
“According to its website, Ganiam ‘specializes in environmental engineering services, commissioning, construction management services, real estate due diligence support services (appraisal, title work, historical consultations, survey work, etc.) and facility maintenance support,’” Judicial Watch reports.
Judicial Watch also reports it asked “for the communications of African Development Foundation President Travis Adkins and Chief Financial Officer Mathieu Zahui, as well as records related to deposits into a bank account in Ghana in February 2023, as referenced in Sen. James Risch’s (R-ID) November 2023 letter to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Inspector General.”
Judicial Watch is also requesting “conflict-of-interest disclosures and ethics pledges, as well as payments or grants to Root Capital of Cambridge, MA, and records regarding Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. of Los Angeles, CA. Other requested records pertain to whistleblower retaliation investigations and the denial of entry to DOGE.”
Judicial Watch reports:
In March 2024, the Office of Inspector General for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it was “initiating an inspection of the United States African Development Foundation.” In August 2024, the Office of Inspector General issued a management advisory, in which it reported: “USADF officials knew of suspected misuse of foundation funds and equipment purchased through foundation grants but failed to report this to the OIG as required.”
In February 2025, President Trump issued an executive order, calling for the African Development Foundation to be scaled back to the minimum presence required by law. Trump also fired the agency’s board members.
In March 2025, the African Development Foundation headquarters in DC reportedly blocked DOGE workers from entrance.
In September 2025, the Government Accountability Office published a report examining fraud risk management at the African Development Foundation, which states that the foundation “had some policies and procedures to mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse, but no strategic approach, from fiscal year 2020 through 2024.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Nothing to see here, move along. Democrats at work.
There is only one possible explanation why the U.S. African Development Foundation tried to block the Department of Government Efficiency from auditing them. They are hiding something.