In a shocking Senate hearing, John Kennedy (R-LA) invited Christopher Wright, the Secretary of Energy, to explain a staggering $93 billion in loans handed out in the 76 days between Trump’s election and when Biden took office.
For context, this staggering total dwarfs the previous 15 years of loans and raises concerns about accountability and due diligence. According to he information revealed in this hearing, many of the recipients had no business plan or ability to repay, leading to widespread calls for a comprehensive audit of the program
In any case, the Luisana senator began by summarizing Wright’s previous statements. He said, “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?”
After the former businessman confirmed he was right, the Repiblican continued, saying, “And during that short period of time, 76 days, how much taxpayer money went out the door of the Department of Energy
from the loan program office in loans and commitments, $93 billion well over twice as much as in the previous 15 years. So, how do you vet and do due diligence on a loan in 76 days? One loan, much less $93 billion! How do you do it?”
Answering confidently, the Energy Secretary chimed in, “I think it’s probably pretty clear it wasn’t done in many cases, as I mentioned, I’m told I’m holding back clearly in place stuff, there is lots of funds that have gone out the door and commitments that were made from businesses that provided no business plan, no numbers about their own financial solvency or how this project,”
Explaining that loans were given on minimal information even before this specific time frame, Wright described a tangled web of corruption. He added, “[This was happening] before the 76-day period as well. That’s, that’s 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.”
Striking at the heart of the matter, Sen. Kennedy incisively asked, “Does anybody ever come to the Department of Energy to get some of this free money and lie to you?” Diplomatically responding, Wright said, “I have not experienced that, but I think it’s a reasonable assumption that that has happened.”
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Still not done, the senator turned his attention to Biden. He said, ” I want to be sure I understood the people running the Department of Energy for president, Biden’s administration shovel $93 billion, not million. $93 billion out the door. In 76 days, and it just happened to be the time between when President Trump was elected and President Biden, their boss, was leaving. Is that right?” Confirming Kennedy’s summary, Wright answered, “It is correct and distasteful.”
Using humor to express his shock, Sen Kennedy continued, “Confidence undermining. My God, look, I hope you take whatever time you need to go through all of these projects, penny by penny. I mean, I’ve heard this testimony today. Well, it’ll cost jobs in my state if somebody steals $50 million and goes and spends the money in their state, that’s that’s going to stimulate the economy, isn’t it? Yes, it will, but that’s still stealing, isn’t it?”
Watch the clip here:
Concluding his remarks, the principal republican issued a call for justice. He said, “It just sounds to me like there were a lot of people coming to the Department of Energy who had all four feet and their snout in the trough. And I hope, if you, I hope you’ll turn down the boondoggles and refer the thieves to the Department of Justice.”
Featured image from embedded video