Another scandal from the era of Joe Biden in the White House has been uncovered in a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., was left stunned.
That was by the fact that the Biden administration handed out a “staggering” $93 billion in loans and commitments during the final 76 days of Biden’s tenure, apparently without even reviewing a business operating plan or a project review.
A report at PJMedia documents Kennedy’s reaction when Energy Secretary Christopher Wright dropped the bombshell.
“The 76-day period you’re talking about, that’s the period between the time that President Trump was elected and President Biden left office. Is that right?” Kennedy demanded.
“That is correct,” Wright said.
“How do you do due diligence on one loan, much less $93 billion?” Kennedy asked.
“I think it’s probably pretty clear it wasn’t done in many cases. There were commitments made from businesses that provided no business plan, no numbers about their own financial solvency, or how this project actually worked,” Wright confirmed.
Kennedy continued, “So, so you’re telling me that the Department of Energy in the 76-day period before their boss was gonna leave office, gave or loaned money to, to entities that had no business plan?”
Yes, Wright affirmed.
“No financials?” Kennedy asked.
“Correct. I’ve come in with great concern about how this institution, this great American institution, has been run and how American taxpayer money has been handled,” Wright explained.
A review now is under way, he confirmed.
Wright also confirmed he could not provide assurance that none of the recipients lied.
And Kennedy asked about fraud.
“Is it conceivable that some of these folks… came to you with a half-baked idea?” he said
“Very conceivable. In fact, I’ve seen such plans … that didn’t have a business plan — just a promise to develop one later,” Wright said.
Wright assured the senator he would be turning down wasteful projects and referring those who acted inappropriately to the Department of Justice.
The money handed out during those 76 days was more than double to loan total from the previous 15 years, the report said.