USAID secretly funded Ukrainian pets, models and fashion, Senate finds
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) secretly spent millions of taxpayer dollars on Ukrainian pet products, models, and fashion, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) revealed last week.
Sen. Ernst said USAID employees failed to publicly report the expenditures and refused her access to the data, claiming it was classified. When she finally gained access, she found that it was not classified—just embarrassing.
According to data reported in the Washington Times, USAID gave $300,000 to the Ukrainian Pet Alliance, which markets dog collars and other pet products, $150,000 to a knitwear company, $255,000 to an organic coffee and tea producer, and $89,000 to a vineyard. Two million dollars were allocated to a custom carpet manufacturer, $678,000 to a confectionary company, $84,000 to a luxury bridal brand, $126,000 for a fashion design photographer, $128,000 for a fashion design trade mission, $150,000 for a women’s clothing company, $104,000 for an artisanal fruit tea company, and more.
“We learned that the aid intended to alleviate economic distress in the war-torn nation [Ukraine] was spent on such frivolous activities as sending Ukrainian models and designers on junkets to New York City, London Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas,” Sen. Ernst said.
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month, Ernst revealed that USAID has been funding these Ukrainian businesses as part of an initiative called the Competitive Economy Program (CEP). The funds are administered by a shadowy DC-based consultancy firm called Chemonics, which Ernst says has a history of overbilling taxpayers and bribing the Taliban for USAID objectives in Afghanistan.
What is USAID?
The Trump administration is attempting USAID after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered a shocking waste of taxpayer funds on Leftist causes around the globe. Officials have further discovered that the agency, considered by many to be a front for the intelligence community, has been funding propaganda domestically and abroad to shape political landscapes and effect regime changes. The agency has funded anti-Israel rap songs in Gaza, transgender operas in Colombia, DEI in Serbia, the publication of a transgender comic book in Peru, and even earmarked $20 million to produce an Arabic version of “Sesame Street” in Iraq called “Ahlan Simsim.”
Established by the federal government in the early 1960s under the pretext of providing “humanitarian aid” worldwide, USAID uses its $40-billion budget to fund initiatives that shape political landscapes. In 2010, for example, the agency funded a social platform in Cuba to promote dissent against the government. In 2013, WikiLeaks revealed a USAID strategy to weaken former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s regime. The agency was also instrumental in helping the terrorist African National Congress assume power in South Africa. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr told reporter Tucker that Carlson that USAID spent $5 billion on fomenting riots in Ukraine in 2014, triggering the coup d’etat that toppled its administration.
