By firing inspectors general, Trump is covering up pandemic-era fraud

[nitpicked]

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5117399-by-firing-inspectors-general-trump-is-covering-up-pandemic-era-fraud/

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There are thousands of open investigations into pandemic-era fraud at the SBA, but on Jan. 24 President Trump removed the agency’s chief fraud investigator, Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware, without cause — and likely in violation of the law — alongside 17 other agency inspectors general.

Lawmakers from both parties should be concerned that Ware’s firing is Trump’s attempt to avoid responsibility for his first administration’s ham-fisted delivery of pandemic relief programs, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, which enabled more than 86 percent of all pandemic fraud in the SBA’s $1.2 trillion relief programs.

Over the last three years, I had a front-row seat at SBA, where I led our congressional efforts, including cleaning up the fraud from the first Trump administration. Ware worked closely with SBA leadership and Congress, playing a critical role in recovering taxpayer dollars in partnership with agency leadership.

Our team did an intensive staff review to look for likely fraud with input from the lending community and tips from members of Congress. We shared that information with the inspector general, who then often partnered with other federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and advance justice. These investigations had bipartisan support, and former President Joe Biden signed into law a bipartisan bill to increase the statute of limitations for pandemic fraud from five years to 10 years — meaning that the inspector general could be investigating pandemic fraud throughout the next four years of the Trump administration.

The inspector general’s firing shows a shift in priorities for the new administration away from Republican talking points about getting tough on fraud. It will instead let fraudsters and criminals evade responsibility.
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