White House: No evidence of 'egregious misconduct' in management of aid to Ukraine

The White House has not seen any evidence of flagrant misappropriation of security assistance to Ukraine, White House National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said during a press briefing on March 29.

"We haven’t seen any evidence that there’s been any egregious misconduct when it comes to managing the security assistance that’s gone into Ukraine," Kirby said in response to a reporter's question about complaints of alleged misconduct received by inspectors general overseeing U.S. aid to Ukraine.

The U.S. has auditors working in Ukraine alongside the World Bank and Deloitte consultants to ensure that no aid or weapons are misappropriated. In January, the U.S created a working group to detect corruption in its aid to Ukraine.

Kirby said that the White House welcomes the U.S. Congress's oversight on aid to Ukraine as well as the three inspectors general working at the Defense Department to help manage accountability oversight.

He noted that "Ukrainian officials also share our concerns about making sure there’s proper accountability and transparency of things getting in and moving around the battlefield."

Kirby concluded his response to the question by stating that while "we all want to have as much oversight and accountability as possible," the conditions of war make complete oversight extremely difficult.

"It’s taxpayer-funded equipment and systems that are going to Ukraine, but it is a war.  And real people are fighting and real people are dying.  And in battle, you can’t predict every single — the perfect, secure movement of every single item that every single soldier takes into the fight with him or her."

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Kyiv IndependentIllia Ponomarenko