Gabbard Orders Probe After Intercept Reveals Ukraine-Biden Fund Scheme
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard launches investigation after declassified intercepts suggest Ukrainian officials plotted to route American taxpayer aid to fund President Biden's 2024 campaign.
U.S. intelligence intercepted Ukrainian officials plotting to funnel hundreds of millions in American taxpayer aid through U.S. subcontractors to fund President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign — a scheme that remains under active investigation by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Declassified intercepts from late 2022 show Ukrainian government officials discussed routing USAID clean energy funds through American subcontractors, with approximately 90 percent earmarked for the Democratic National Committee to support Biden's campaign. U.S. intelligence analysts assessed the communications as "not believed to be linked to Russian disinformation," lending credibility to the explosive allegations.
The identities of two American subcontractors named in raw intercepts remain classified, creating a critical gap in determining whether the scheme moved beyond planning stages. DNI Tulsi Gabbard has directed USAID to search its financial records to establish if the plot was executed, and she is evaluating whether to refer the case to the FBI for criminal investigation.
"Our recent audit of USAID's $26 billion in direct budget support to the government of Ukraine revealed that USAID had a severely limited ability to ensure that the government of Ukraine could receive and use the funds as intended," USAID Associate Deputy Inspector General Adam Kaplan stated March 17. "This occurred because the major international contractors USAID hired to support oversight efforts failed to provide required reports on time or, in some cases, at all."
The alleged scheme emerges amid Ukraine's deepening corruption crisis. The country's National Anti-Corruption Bureau exposed a $100 million kickback operation at state nuclear power company Energoatom in November 2025. Former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko was detained in February 2026 while attempting to flee the country, and Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office, resigned November 28, 2025 following NABU searches at his home and office.
Gabbard's investigation stands in stark contrast to the Biden administration's documented response. Gabbard's team has found "no substantive evidence" that officials thoroughly investigated the intercepts during Biden's term, raising urgent questions about whether the intelligence was suppressed or ignored while billions flowed to Ukraine.
"This may be the greatest, most corrupt scandal in American history," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna stated on X March 30. "The Democrats never wanted an end to the conflict in Ukraine, as they used it as a money laundering scheme to return billions of dollars of American taxpayers in kickbacks to finance their operations."
If Gabbard's USAID audit confirms funds moved as described, the political fallout would mark the first confirmed case of foreign aid being deliberately weaponized to finance a U.S. presidential campaign. The revelations come as Transparency International's 2025 corruption perception index gave Ukraine a score of 36 out of 100, ranking it 104th globally and placing it among Europe's most corrupt nations.
The intercepted communications describe a mechanism where contracts would be structured through U.S. companies so fund allocation and spending would be "difficult to track" and "difficult to verify." Officials allegedly planned to fund projects initially, then later disapprove them as unnecessary — at which point money would be "already allocated and impossible to return."
A spokesperson for Gabbard confirmed to Blaze News March 26 that the DNI is "working to review USAID holdings" as part of the investigation. According to a USAID OIG audit, the Energy Security Project expanded from $85 million to $920 million since November 2022, with Tetra Tech serving as prime contractor.
Former Acting DNI Ric Grenell noted the explosive nature of the allegations. "Raise your hand if you're shocked that this didn't leak out during the Biden Administration," Grenell stated. "They wanted Biden to win because they were getting money from Biden for this war between Russia and Ukraine."
The investigation's outcome could reshape American politics heading into the 2026 midterm elections and beyond. With congressional Republicans already calling for hearings and Gabbard's audit underway, the revelations threaten to unravel the narrative of Ukraine as a worthy recipient of massive U.S. aid during its conflict with Russia. Families who sent their children to serve abroad, taxpayers who funded the effort, and Americans who believed in the mission now face questions that demand answers about who truly served America's interests.