Federal watchdog opens 'review' of Tex. use of covid aid on border crackdown

[Nevilledog]

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Citizens for Ethics
@CREWcrew
The Treasury Department IG is investigating whether Texas misspent federal coronavirus aid, after Gov. Abbott shifted $1 billion towards a crackdown on the US-Mexico border.

washingtonpost.com
Federal watchdog opens ‘review’ of Tex. use of covid aid on border crackdown
The investigation comes after a Washington Post report on the state’s budget transfers.
8:00 PM · May 13, 2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/05/10/texas-investigation-stimulus-immigration/

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https://archive.ph/RjSsj

A U.S. government watchdog is probing whether Texas misspent federal coronavirus aid, after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and top state officials shifted roughly $1 billion in relief funds to help defray the costs of their crackdown on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The inquiry comes as Texas engaged in budgetary maneuvers to facilitate its campaign to arrest more migrants, known as Operation Lone Star. Essentially, state leaders rerouted public health and safety funds to their border operations, while relying on federal pandemic funds to replace some of the money, according to a Washington Post analysis of spending records.

On Tuesday, the inspector general for the Treasury Department said officials had opened a “review” into the way Texas has handled its federal allocation broadly. The aid was supposed to help local governments pay their front-line workers, purchase protective equipment and offset other public health costs.

Richard K. Delmar, the deputy inspector general, cited in a statement his office’s mandate “for monitoring and oversight of the distribution” of the stimulus spending, which Texas received under a federal initiative known as the Coronavirus Relief Fund. He added that his agency — in cases of “unauthorized uses” — can also “direct recoupment of the money.”

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[Deuxcents]

1. How long is this gonna take?