The Environmental Protection Agency formally referred several Biden-era green energy grants to its inspector general, requesting a full investigation into the matter following a series of Washington Free Beacon reports that highlighted potential conflicts of interest and mismanagement.
In a letter to acting EPA inspector general Nicole Murley on Sunday, acting EPA deputy administrator W.C. McIntosh said the Biden administration's green spending programs were rife with "financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and oversight failures." McIntosh added that an inspector general probe would take place concurrently with the Department of Justice's ongoing investigation into the matter.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has promised to conduct broad reviews of Biden-era spending, including the billions of dollars in taxpayer money doled out for green energy projects and initiatives. The EPA's request Sunday is the latest example of the administration's commitment to fulfilling that promise.
The referral cited three Free Beacon reports published late last month. The first revealed that the Biden EPA awarded $2 billion to a brand new nonprofit linked to perennial Georgia Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, the second revealed that the EPA official who led green grant disbursals oversaw a $5 billion grant to his former employer, and the third revealed that a group whose CEO served on a White House environmental advisory council received $20 million.
"These examples are the tip of the iceberg and suggest a deeply entrenched pattern of political favoritism, lack of qualifications, and other possibly unlawful allocation of taxpayer funds," McIntosh wrote. "Disturbingly, these cases likely represent only a fraction of broader issues."
"While these issues can be fully investigated, we will continue to aggressively pursue enhanced oversight, answers, and accountability," he continued. "We stand firmly alongside the Office of the Inspector General in our shared mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse with the EPA. I look forward to your recommendations."
The EPA's letter requests that an investigation focuses in particular on the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created to operate as a "green bank" by Democrats' behemoth Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Shortly after his confirmation, Zeldin and his team located the entirety of those funds parked at an outside financial institution—Citibank—in a first-of-its-kind arrangement that appears to block it from federal oversight.
In December, Project Veritas published an undercover video that showed Biden official Brent Efron admitting the EPA frantically pushed billions of dollars to favored industries and groups before leaving office, likening the spending to tossing "gold bars off the Titanic." Zeldin said the $20 billion found at Citibank is an example of those gold bars.
"It is my pledge to be accountable for every penny the EPA spends. This marks a stark turn from the waste and self-dealing of the Biden-Harris Administration intentionally tossing ‘gold bars off the Titanic.’ The American people deserve accountability and responsible stewardship of their tax dollars. We will continue to deliver," Zeldin said in a statement on Monday.
According to the EPA, Citibank agreed to a request from the FBI to pause disbursements of the funding.