Democrats threw a fit when DOGE eliminated wasteful government agencies.
They claimed cutting USAID would harm innocent people who desperately needed help.
But a USAID bribery scandal was shut down after DOGE uncovered million dollar corruption.
The fraud Democrats tried to hide from DOGE
Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler just ordered a sweeping audit after investigators uncovered a shocking bribery scandal at USAID that stretched back over a decade.
The scale of the corruption is staggering.
USAID contracting officer Roderick Watson sold his influence for more than $1 million in bribes starting in 2013, according to the Department of Justice.
The decade-long corruption scheme involved at least 14 prime contracts worth over $550 million in taxpayer dollars.
Watson, 57, pleaded guilty to "bribery of a public official" after prosecutors discovered he was taking payoffs from contractors who wanted to win lucrative government contracts.
He received cash, laptops, expensive NBA tickets, wedding payments, mortgage down payments, phones, and jobs for family members, according to the Justice Department.
Contractors Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, used subcontractor Paul Young as their middleman to hide the money trail.
The Justice Department said Watson received "bribes valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme."
"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 wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
Vistant won a contract worth up to $800 million in August 2024 through a joint venture arrangement.
That massive contract focused on addressing "a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States."
This was the exact same border crisis that Biden assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris during his presidency.
Biden administration ignored red flags about corrupt contractors
The Biden administration’s response to this corruption shows their complete disregard for taxpayer protection.
In November 2023, USAID banned Vistant from government contracting because of "evidence of conduct of a lack of business honesty or integrity."
Instead of maintaining that ban on the corrupt company, Biden officials reversed course when Vistant’s joint venture filed a lawsuit.
The joint venture ultimately received the $800 million contract in August 2024 plus a $10,000 payment from the government.
Watson faces up to 15 years in prison, while Barnes, Britt, and Young each face maximum sentences of five years.
Both Apprio and Vistant entered into three-year deferred prosecution agreements with the Justice Department.
Loeffler slammed the Biden administration for rewarding a company that USAID itself labeled 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," Loeffler stated.
The USAID scandal "represents a collapse in the very safeguards that are supposed to protect American taxpayer dollars and ensure fair access for legitimate small businesses," she added.
Democrats’ hysterical reaction to DOGE cuts exposed
When President Trump and Elon Musk shut down USAID as part of DOGE’s waste, fraud, and abuse cuts, Democrats threw a fit.
They claimed cutting USAID would impoverish and harm recipients across the globe.
Protesters held rallies and Democrats accused Trump of being heartless toward poor people in foreign countries.
But this massive bribery scandal proves Trump and Musk were right to target the agency.
Instead of helping people, USAID was enriching corrupt government officials and their crooked contractor friends.
Loeffler said the scale of the USAID fraud is a "damning reflection of systemic failures in oversight and accountability."
She emphasized that the fraud "was not an isolated incident," suggesting there are likely more corrupt schemes waiting to be discovered.
The SBA Administrator ordered Associate Administrator Tre Pennie to "act decisively" to crack down on any similar abuses in the agency.
Loeffler instructed Pennie to immediately launch a full-scale audit of the agency’s awarding officers dating back to 2010.
"We will not allow public trust to be quietly eroded by backdoor deals and unchecked discretion," Loeffler declared.
DOGE delivers results while Democrats cry
This investigation shows exactly why American voters elected Donald Trump to clean up Washington, D.C.
For years, corrupt bureaucrats have been getting rich off taxpayer dollars while politicians looked the other way.
The USAID scandal involved contracts supposedly designed to address border security and immigration issues.
But instead of solving problems, government officials were lining their pockets with bribes from contractors.
Loeffler promised that the SBA’s audit will begin with high-dollar and limited competition contracts within the agency’s 8(a) business development program.
Any findings will be referred to the U.S. Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice.
Officials or businesses found violating ethical standards or committing criminal misconduct will face the appropriate authorities.
The SBA will also assist the DOJ in recovering misappropriated taxpayer funds.
"We owe it to America’s small businesses to get this right," Loeffler concluded.
"Your office has the authority, and now the mandate, to act decisively."
This is exactly the kind of corruption that Trump promised to root out when he campaigned on draining the swamp.
Democrats spent four years attacking Trump and trying to protect their corrupt allies in the bureaucracy.
But American voters saw through their lies and gave Trump a mandate to clean house.
The USAID fraud scandal proves that every single DOGE cut was justified and necessary to protect taxpayers from government thieves.
