https://www.ernst.senate.gov/imo/med...tary_rubio.pdf
Sen. Joni Ernst’s staff uncovered the secret slush funds when, after months of enduring the agency’s excuses to justify its resistance to oversight, they were finally permitted access to “very limited data.” In October 2024, as Ernst has since detailed, the senator’s staff visited USAID headquarters in person for an “in-camera review” of Ukraine assistance data even though, her team discovered, the do ents were not classified.
Even though they were heavily restricted during their investigation, Ernst’s team discovered a variety of U.S. taxpayer-funded grants funneled to Ukrainian businesses under the guise of both Compe ive Economy Program (CEP) and Investment for Business Resilience funds.
Among the grants Ernst’s staff discovered were hundreds of thousands of dollars devoted to literal pet projects including approximately $300,000 to a “pet tracking app,” approximately $300,000 to a “dog collar manufacturer,” and approximately another $109,000 to a “pet food packaging producer,” according to a findings breakdown Ernst’s office sent to The Federalist.
Fashionistas also benefitted from the taxpayer-funded expenditures with a women’s clothing company, a fashion photographer, a “purveyor of contemporary knitwear,” a “luxury bridal brand,” a “marketplace for designer artisanal pieces,” and even a “trade mission for a fashion design house,” raking in approximately $733,000 combined.
Designers including a “custom carpet manufacturer,” which received approximately $2,000,000, and two different furniture lines, which received $114,000 and $91,000 respectively, also joined in the funding frenzy.
Even foodies received their fill of American cash. A “trade mission for a condiment manufacturer” cost taxpayers approximately $94,000, a “pickle maker” received around $148,0000, an organic coffee and tea producer was handed approximately $255,000, a vineyard pulled $89,000, and an “artisanal fruit tea company” collected $104,000.
USAID also awarded a “specialty biscuit and confectionery company” around $678,000 — nearly the same number of taxpayer dollars as the aforementioned food grants combined — and a meatpacking plant approximately $319,000.
USAID “failed to provide any of these do ents” to Ernst’s staff beyond the “in-camera review.” USAID also often claims national security exemptions to avoid disclosing controversial charges on its public “foreign assistance” tracker.
https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/26...t-accessories/
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