Comer Oversight Panel to Focus First Hearing on Fraud and Waste in COVID Relief Programs

The first hearing by James Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee (Republican from Kentucky), will focus on the suspected fraud, waste and abuse in federal COVID relief programs. It is expected to be worth hundreds of billions of US dollars.

Reports that hundreds of millions of dollars are being paid in benefits to convicted murderers, such as Scott Petersen, and thousands of California prison inmates including Death Row 144, will be the focal point of the hearing.

“We owe it to Americans to identify how hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars spent under the guise of pandemic relief were lost to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. For the past two years, the Biden Administration has allowed fraud to run rampant in federal assistance programs and Democrats in Congress conducted little oversight,” Comer stated in a “a href=”https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-announces-first-hearing-on-rampant-waste-of-taxpayer-dollars-in-covid-relief-programs/”>statement An announcement of the hearing to take place February 1.

Comer also published his Jan. 13 Letter Larry Turner, Department of Labor Inspector General, describes reports of fraud and waste in COVID-boosted Unemployment Insurance Program (UI) payments programs.

“In July of 2021, your office estimated there was at least $87 billion in fraudulent and improper payments in the UI program. On December 21, 2021, the Secret Service announced it had more than 900 active criminal investigations totaling nearly $100 billion in potentially fraudulent activity in the UI program and Small Business Administration programs,” Comer wrote.

“On February 8, 2022, the Secret Service briefed Committee Republican staff that even conservative estimates show there was more than $100 billion of fraud in the UI program alone. On September 22, 2022, your office updated its estimates, now finding that 18.71 percent, or more than $163 billion of pandemic UI payments were improper,” Comer continued.

Comer is particularly concerned about inaccuracies in reporting waste and fraud in UI program by officials in California and New York. He cites multiple media reports and government reports pointing out that state officials have publicly underestimated the problem by tens to billions of dollars.

In a Jan. Letter to California Employment Development Department Director Nancy Farias, Comer described a series of reports concerning COVID relief funds going to inmates in the Golden State’s prison system.

“Perhaps more disturbing are reports of unemployment benefits being doled out in the names of convicted murderers such as Scott Peterson and serial killer Cary Stayner. A California task force discovered that between March and August 2020, more than 35,000 payments were sent in the name of state prisoners, totaling over $140 million, with nearly $500,000 disbursed in the names of 133 death row inmates,” Comer told Farias.

“In a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, the task force wrote, ‘the volume of fraud as well as the types of inmates involved is staggering.’ Additionally, according to the CEO of a major data and analytics company, 70 percent of the fraudulent claims paid by California left the state and ‘went to transnational criminal groups that have used that money for nefarious purposes to harm our democracy.’ In other words, California is funding criminal organizations by failing to adequately prevent UI fraud,” Comer, he said.

A timing discussion of a report from the New York State Comptroller regarding UI problems is likely to be part of the hearing. Comer and other House Republicans believe that the report was not released until after the Nov.8 election. This was to avoid embarrassing Gov. Kathy Hochul was running for reelection.

“Described as ‘damning’ and a ‘wake-up call for Governor Hochul and legislators,’ your office did not issue the audit report until November 15, 2022, exactly one week after the 2022 election. The timing raises concerns that your office may have delayed the report to limit damage to Governor Kathy Hochul’s campaign,” Comer and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) told Thomas P. DiNapoli, the New York State Comptroller in a Dec. 21, 2022, Letter.

Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Chairman Michael Horowitz (also the Inspector General at Department of Justice) were invited to attend the hearing. Other witnesses include Gene Dodaro (Comptroller General), who oversees the Government Accountability Office, and Roy Dotson (Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the National Pandemic Fraud recovery Coordinator, U.S. Secret Service).

February 1st hearing will focus on fraud, waste and abuse in COVID linked UI benefits. This is the first of a series of ongoing investigations that are expected to probe the domestic and international financial dealings between President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and his brother Jim.

The committee will also investigate the existence of multiple classified documents from Biden, which were discovered in recent months at three different locations. The Special Counsel was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Galrland on January 12. Comer however stated that the committee will also investigate the presence of multiple classified documents by Biden that were found in recent months at three different locations. Statement The oversight panel will conduct its own investigation.

“With or without a special counsel, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will investigate President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and the Swamp’s efforts to hide this information from the American people,” Comer made the statement.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) The Ranking Minority Member of this oversight panel is Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). A Raskin spokesman could not be reached for comment on Comer’s announcement.

The Congressional Correspondent

The Epoch Times Congressional Correspondent