Republican lawmakers demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland provide information on settlement funds the Biden administration allocates to shady and unrelated third parties, according to a letter exclusively obtained by Breitbart News.
The request is significant because many congressional Republicans are trying to curtail the Biden administration’s favoritism toward political allies.
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Lawmakers fear that diverting settlement funds from victims or the U.S. Treasury to Biden’s chosen organizations could produce misuse, misappropriation, or unauthorized appropriation of funds.
The Obama administration initially incorporated the questionable scheme before the Trump administration ended it in 2017. Biden revitalized it in 2021. In January, the Republican-lead House passed a bill to end the practice.
Since Biden restituted the scheme, Republican lawmakers believe Biden redirected a significant portion of the billions of dollars in fines and penalties from Department of Justice (DOJ) settlements to third parties.
In the letter to Garland, Reps. Lance Gooden (R-TX), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Randy Weber (R-TX) say Biden might have used the scheme to gain favors from their political allies:
Reports have surfaced suggesting that some Biden DOJ settlements include terms requiring parties to make “mandatory donations” to certain partisan third-party groups in exchange for reduced fines. These funds have been redirected to third parties, where they should have only been deposited with the Treasury or given to victims. One recent example is that JP Morgan Chase will be directing a majority portion of its settlement in the Epstein scandal to third-party charities.
The DOJ’s requirement for defendants to donate to particular groups identified by the DOJ raises serious concerns of a partisan conflict of interest. The act of redirecting or substituting payments meant for victims and instead requiring donations to friends of the administration appears to be a misuse of power to reward politically aligned special interests. In doing so, the practice robs deserving victims of the compensation to which they would otherwise be entitled. This practice also raises concerns of an unconstitutional encroachment upon Congress’s power of the purse.
The lawmakers requested Garland provide a briefing on the funds and disclose details about which non-governmental organizations received them.
2.13.24 – Letter to AG Garland on Third Party Settlement Funds by Breitbart News on Scribd
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
