Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is pulling back the curtain on what he describes as one of the most brazen abuses of taxpayer money in recent history. In a conversation with journalist Miranda Devine on her podcast this week, Zeldin detailed how the EPA was used under prior leadership as a slush fund to funnel billions to Democratic allies under the guise of environmental protection.
The scandal first came to light earlier this year when an undercover video captured an EPA employee admitting that the agency had been throwing away $20 billion in taxpayer funds like “gold bars off of the Titanic.” Zeldin says the truth is far worse — the spending was not careless, but deliberate.
“There was nothing ‘blind’ about the way the Democrats were dishing out these funds,” Zeldin explained. He noted that the money was directed to eight left-leaning NGOs that acted as pass-through entities, funneling funds into the hands of former Obama and Biden officials, Democratic donors, and individuals with political influence.
“All these NGOs [were] pass-through entities that were riddled with self-dealing and conflicts of interest, former Obama and Biden officials, Democratic donors…” Zeldin said.
The setup also ensured that the EPA had no meaningful oversight into how the funds were spent, creating conditions ripe for abuse.
In one of the most striking examples, Zeldin pointed out that Stacey Abrams’ nonprofit Power Forward Communities received “$2 billion in 2024.” Abrams, who twice failed in her bids for Georgia governor, became a prominent beneficiary of the EPA’s funding pipeline.
The pattern, Zeldin argues, reveals a calculated system: taxpayer money was diverted under the banner of “environmental protection,” but in reality, it was used to enrich political allies and sustain Democratic networks.
Watch Zeldin’s remarks on what he calls one of the largest Democrat scams in recent memory here: