Did Trump, Musk and Dog really discovered a “fraud” in the government? | Donald Trump News

Elon Musk and President Donald Trump say they have revealed a huge “fraud” in the US federal government.

During Oval Office's remarks on February 11, Trump said their efforts to reduce costs were “billions and billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse”.

Trump added, “We found fraud and abuse, I would say these two words, unlike the third word I usually use, but in this case fraud and abuse.”

Trump and Musk They used the word “fraud” or “cheater” combined about a dozen times during their session for questions and answers to the oval office.

So far no Musk Neither Trump's White House has shown evidence of this alleged criminal activity they have discovered.

On February 12, during the White House press conference, a reporter asked a press secretary Carolyn Levit for evidence of fraud.

“I like to carry receipts,” Levitt said. It cited three contracts for $ 36,000 for programs for diversity, justice and inclusion (DEI) of US citizenship and immigration services$ 3.4 million for the Inclusive Innovation Council at the US Patent and Trademarks in the US and $ 57,000 related to climate change in Sri Lanka.

“I would say all these things are deceptive,” Levit said. “They are wasteful and are abused by the dollar of the US taxpayer.”

When Politifact asked for these allegations, the White House press office pointed out a government report of the government's government report, which found that “the federal government is losing approximately $ 233 billion to $ 521 billion” each year for fraud.

The White House also sent a list of dozens of the Ministry of Government To Initiatives, consulting and administrative costs.

“Nothing that they have identified is, as far as I know, evidence of” fraud “or” corruption “. Fraud and corruption are crimes, “said Jessica Tilipman, Assistant Professor of State Public Procurement Law at George Washington University. “This administration simply has different priorities in the cost of the last administration. But to mark all this as fraud or corruption is extremely misleading. “

Trump has destroyed government instruments to find fraud. He fired more than a dozen general inspectors whose job was to throw out fraud and ineffectiveness. He has stopped the Foreign Corruption Practices Act, which prohibits business from bribe from foreign employees.

Government reports show that fraudulent costs are a measurable problem for the federal government. But the evidence that Interference has revealed new examples has not yet been proven.

Here is a review of how the government is dealing with waste, fraud and abuses.

Fraud is not the same as waste or abuse

Waste, fraud and abuse are not interchangeable conditions.

Government Accountability Office (GAO) says waste “use or consume resources carelessly, extravagant or without any purpose.” Abuse is “behavior that is deficient or incorrect”. The fraud “involves getting something valuable through a deliberate misconception” and is marked after a legal process.

“Fraud is a very high legal standard,” said David M Walker, who serves on the Federal Government's Business Board, which advises the Ministry of Defense for Business Management.

In order to qualify as a fraud, an activity must be illegal with evidence of intent, which is “the most difficult thing to prove,” he said.

Walker, a former US government controller, who runs GAO in democratic and republican administrations, said most of the examples he heard from Dodge can be characterized as waste and abuse. Walker proposed the wage protection program that Congress adopted in March 2020 to help the small business cover salaries at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic as an example of a program that has fraudulent payments that the government later caught S Later, the US Inspector General for Small Business has estimated $ 64 billion.

The government's reporting service has staff with auditors, and the general services of federal inspectors have auditors and law enforcement authorities. They both target suspects of investigators.

“Every time someone examines the data (such as spending data), you will see anomalies that attract attention and review of it,” says Robert Westbrooks, CEO of the Pandemic Accountability Committee that has worked in state supervisory roles during the time of democratic and republican administrations. “It does not necessarily mean that the transaction is deceptive or wasteful.”

Westbrook reviewed the White House list of Interference He “wins” and said he did not see evidence of intent to mislead.

“The waste is in the eyes of the viewer,” he said. “The fraud, on the other hand, is determined by a court.”

Before Trump General Inspectors found criminal activity

The Congress has adopted the 1978 General Inspector Act in response to the anti -corruption efforts, which began after the breakthrough and concealing Watergate in 1972, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. The mission of the Agency's General Inspector is to conduct independent and objective audits, investigations and inspections and to prevent and detect and detect waste, fraud and abuse.

Only the president can remove general inspectors. Trump fired 17 General Inspectors on January 25, prompting a case of many who want to get their job back. The court case says that Trump did not obey the law, which requires him to notify the congress of 30 days before removing the general inspectors. (Trump also pushed a handful to General inspectors In the spring 2020)

Later, Trump dismissed the General Inspector of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Paul Martin after a consultation on February 10 that the federal government's pause on foreign aid is financial risks. (The unsigned notice comes from the USAID General Inspector.) The statement states that the government Foreign assistance Put more than $ 489 million dollars at risk of spoiling or deviation and the ability of restricted employees to respond to fraud and accusations of loss.

In the past, many general inspectors have found fraud.

The Council of General Inspectors on honesty and efficiency issued an annual report for 2023, which emphasized federal efforts to combat fraud, waste and abuse. The report shows that the work of general inspectors has led to over 4,000 prosecution and identifies nearly $ 93.1 billion potential savings.

The findings led to about 3000 suspensions, reprimands and terminations for federal contractors and federal, government and local officials.

General Inspectors in recent years have discovered fraudulent activity in Covid-19's relief programs, including $ 5.4 billion for pandemic relief loans Obtained by crafted social security numbers.

General inspectors at other agencies have also found misconduct that have caused the prosecution, including a bidding scheme related to NGO contracts, funded in part by USAID.

Another probe has led to an agreement of $ 6.9 million with an international non -governmental organization over inflated invoices. The Inspector General also stopped or prevented some organizations from doing business with USAID.