Grassley Seeks Audit of Defense Department Task Force Spending in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today asked the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to conduct a formal audit of the Defense Department’s Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO).  The audit request comes after SIGAR has documented numerous instances of excessive spending by the task force and a shoddy record of uncompleted projects.  

“I believe that the Defense Department must provide an accurate accounting of how all the money provided to the TFBSO was actually spent,” Grassley wrote to Inspector General John Sopko.  “For these reasons, I am requesting that SIGAR conduct a top-to-bottom audit of TFBSO programs and spending and provide a full report to Congress. I need assurance that all this money was spent in accordance with the law. In the spirit of cooperation and to avoid potential duplication of effort, I recommend that this audit is conducted in consultation with Department of Defense Inspector General.”

Also, Grassley noted that the Defense Department at last has given SIGAR a hard drive containing task force records.  Grassley had urged the move to ensure transparency and accountability.  He requested a copy of the documents for himself, an unfilled request so far.  “SIGAR needs these records to be able to do its job,” Grassley said.  “I hope the records are complete so SIGAR can render a complete accounting of the spending and help hold those accountable for wasted money.”

In his letter to Sopko, Grassley cited recent SIGAR reports documenting a $43 million compressed natural gas filling station that cost many times more than it should have and a large expense for task force employees to live in private villas rather than military housing.  “It seems like TFBSO personnel were living high on the hog in a war zone when keeping a low-profile and exercising a reasonable measure of austerity would have been a more appropriate way to conduct the people’s business,” Grassley wrote.  

This week, SIGAR released a report finding a poor track record on task force spending to help Afghanistan develop its oil, gas and minerals industries.  

Grassley’s letter today is available here.