On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) criticized the Department of Justice for refusing to participate in the Ways and Means Committee’s hearing into the COVID relief fraud that he characterized as “the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history” in light of testimony before the committee from Labor Department Inspector General Larry D. Turner that at least $191 billion of the $878 billion in unemployment benefits were improperly paid out and other estimates that the amount of improper payments could be as high as $400 billion.
Smith said, “[T]hank goodness we were able to turn the lights on on what we believe is the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history. What we had…yesterday is that there was $191 billion in fraud, but that was at the minimum. They are projecting that it could go as north as $400 billion. And when only $878 billion was in this program, you’re talking about nearly half. We’re going to have to help that — hopefully, [hope] that the White House will be a partner in this. We also requested the Department of Justice be part of the hearing. But guess what? They refused to participate.”
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