$2B Sent by USAID to Support Hamas Under Biden

More than $2 billion was sent by USAID to support the Hamas terrorist organization since October 7, 2023, under the Biden Administration, according to testimony heard Wednesday before a House Committee hearing on DOGE and federal workers, broadcast live by Fox News.

“Dozens of terror organizations have received indirect assistance from US foreign aid,” Greg Roman, director of the Middle East Forum testified before a House committee hearing on foreign aid.

“I’m here because there’s a fox loose in the hen house of our foreign aid system,” Roman charged, “a system intended to uplift lives abroad that instead has funnel millions of taxpayer dollars to radical and terrorist linked organizations.

“If we don’t fix these fences now we risk fueling violence against our allies, our troops and potentially ourselves,” Roman said, warning of “moral confusion” among grant officers who “unwittingly and in some cases may intentionally” bankroll extremists causes.

Roman said this problem began under the Obama Administration and was exacerbated under the Biden Administration. Former President Joe Biden continued many of the policies of former President Barack Obama, with whom he served as vice president.

“We have identified over $122 million which has ended up supporting radical organizations or even directly bankrolling organizations which are considered to be terrorists by the US government,” Roman reported.

Some of the money trail looks like this, according to Roman’s testimony:
• Jamal Trust Bank (Lebanon): USAID dollars helped pad the pockets of this financial institution, later designated for financing Hezbollah. This was no mere oversight; it points to a broken system that handed cash to a future terror-financing entity.

• Bayader and Unlimited Friends Association (UFA): Members of the Gazan charity Bayader cozy up to senior Hamas figures like Abdul Salam Haniyeh, son of Ismail Haniyeh—credited as one of the planners of the October 7 attacks on Israel. Meanwhile, UFA officials have called for their lands to be “cleansed” from the “impurity of the Jews.”

• Masking the Money Trail: Billions of dollars in USAID grants are lumped under
“miscellaneous foreign awardees,” making it almost impossible for Congress, the media, or the public to track who’s really getting the funds. A portion of this money has ended up in the hands of Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria.

Roman called on on Congress to launch a criminal investigation of federal officials and charity leaders who knowingly dispensed foreign aid to terror-linked organizations.

The hearing came on the heels of an MEF report from Sam Westrop, director of Islamist Watch, exposing terror finance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The multi-year study was the result of MEF research and advocacy seeking USAID reform and going back to the Obama administration. Roman warned that over $164 million in approved grants — $122 million of which ended up supporting radical and terror-tied organizations — were funneled through USAID’s foreign aid program. This includes entities linked to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda affiliates.

“It’s not just about fraud, waste, or abuse,” Roman said. “It’s a threat to American national security, and potentially criminal, and this committee should take action to ensure that the Department of Justice acts on it and does everything in Congress’s power to not just investigate, but to refer criminal actions to the proper authorities.”

He noted that “a private citizen can’t do this, but if the government wants to give money to a terrorist organization [currently, through USAID], it’s okay.”