JUST IN: Trump Admin Takes Action After DOGE Exposes Stunning Bribery Scheme

After a massive bribery scandal was uncovered at USAID by the Department of Government Efficiency, the Small Business Administration is now taking action. The SBA has ordered a comprehensive audit of all government contracting officers who have exercised authority to award grants under the agency’s business development program over the past 15 years.

SBA Administration Kelly Loeffler stated in a letter obtained by Fox News that the scale of the fraud committed by USAID is a “damning reflection of systemic failures in oversight and accountability.” She added that the fraud “was not an isolated incident.”

Loeffler has instructed Associate Administrator Tre Pennie, who oversees government contracts awarded by the SBA, to “act decisively” to identify any similar abuses within the agency and take action to prevent them. The SBA head then told Pennie to launch a full-scale audit of the agency’s awarding officers, dating back to 2010.

“The role of federal government contracting officers is not ceremonial or self-dealing; rather, it is a position of immense authority and fiduciary responsibility,” Loeffler explained. “The contracting process must be transparent and built on merit, not personal gain.”

Loeffler’s call for audits comes after DOGE ripped USAID apart as part of its efforts to slash waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. Democrats were displeased with this decision, claiming the cuts would cause poverty to rise and would ultimately hurt recipients all around the world.

“Despite claims of how much good the agency was doing, it was recently discovered that an influential contracting officer at USAID named Roderick Watson was able to carry out a massive, long-term bribery scheme dating all the way back to 2013. Watson, 57, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official,” Fox News reported. “According to the DOJ, Watson sold his influence starting in 2013, with contractors Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, funneling payoffs through subcontractor Paul Young to hide their tracks.”

A press release put out by the Justice Department revealed that Britt and Barnes “regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices.”

The statement then said that Watson allegedly received bribes “valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme.” In November 2023, Vistant was awarded a contract valued at $800 million in a joint venture with one of the focuses of the contract centered on “a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States.”

A few days later, the contract was canceled after USAID issued a notice stating that Vistant was not eligible to participate in government contracting due to “evidence of conduct of a lack of business honesty or integrity.”

The joint venture filed a lawsuit against the government—and won—for being added to the exclusion list. They were awarded the contract, along with a $10,000 payment, in August of last year.

Loeffler said in her letter that the USAID debacle “represents a collapse in the very safeguards that are supposed to protect American taxpayer dollars and ensure fair access for legitimate small businesses.”

She then took a moment to shred the Biden administration for awarding the massive contract to Vistant, despite the company being referred to as lacking “honesty and integrity.”

“The fact that a federal official was able to act as the linchpin of a persistent, large-scale fraud operation speaks to a failure in internal controls and a breakdown in the contracting environment that demands immediate correction,” the letter read.

She then added that the agency will play a “critical role” in federal contracting and “will no longer stand by while abuses are perpetrated at the expense of taxpayers and deserving small businesses.”

Audits carried out by the SBA are going to start with high-dollar and limited competition contracts within the business development program. Results from the investigation will be forwarded to the U.S. Office of the Inspector General and the Department of Justice.

“Any officials or businesses found in violation of the SBA’s ethical standards or who have committed criminal misconduct will be referred to the appropriate authorities, and SBA will assist the DOJ in recovering misappropriated funds,” Loeffler said.

“We will not allow public trust to be quietly eroded by backdoor deals and unchecked discretion.”

“We owe it to America’s small businesses to get this right,” she added in the letter. “Your office has the authority, and now the mandate, to act decisively.”