Roderick Watson, a former USAID employee who worked under the Biden administration, has pleaded guilty after an investigation revealed that he had awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to USAID-affiliated companies as part of a massive corruption scheme that involved work assigned by Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris.
For context, in a press release issued on June 12, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs confirmed that Roderick Watson, a USAID contracting officer, had “exploited his position” by providing an eight-figure contract to Walter Barnes, founder of the government contracting company Vistant, and provided another massive contract Daryl Britt, founder of another government contractor, Apprio.
In the press release, Guy Ficco, an IRS criminal investigator, said, “Watson exploited his position at USAID to line his pockets with bribes in exchange for more than $550 million in contracts.” Ficco added, “While he helped three company owners and presidents bypass the fair bidding process, he was showered with cash and lavish gifts.”
Continuing, Ficco explained that the IRS “works to protect taxpayer dollars” by rooting out con men like Watson and ensuring “that government funds are awarded based on merit — not corruption.” He added, “In close coordination with our law enforcement partners, IRS-CI helped put an end to their greed and criminal conduct. Now, Watson and his co-conspirators will face justice.”
Moreover, explaining Watson’s scheme in greater detail, the DOJ’s statement explained that Britt and Barnes “regularly funnelled bribes to Watson,” which allegedly included “cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, and jobs for relatives.”
Adding to the depth of the scandal, the DOJ also alleged that the bribes given to Watson “were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices. Watson is alleged to have received bribes valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme.”
In addition, an investigative report by the Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak confirmed that the contract awarded to Vistant by Watson was for addressing “issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States,” which Rosiak reported was a task assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 to “enhance migration enforcement.”
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Furthermore, the DOJ confirmed that Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud. In an official statement, Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said that Watson and his co-conspirators “sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud.”
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