CNN’s Jake Tapper appeared incredulous Sunday as he peppered National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan over $3 billion in extra aid that could be sent to Ukraine following a recalculation on equipment already provided.
“That’s a hell of an accounting error!”
Joining “State of the Union” from Hiroshima, Japan, where he was accompanying President Joe Biden for the G7 Summit, Sullivan appeared to be going out of his way to bolster the administration’s stance in support of Ukraine.
After brushing past the mission creep that has seen America’s support of the eastern European nation go from holding back the invasion of Russian forces to supplying training and equipment to last well beyond the ongoing conflict, Tapper turned to the revelation from the Pentagon this week that $3 billion remained available to ship overseas.
“There was this very bizarre admission from the Pentagon this week of an accounting error that suggested that the U.S. has at least $3 billion that it didn’t know it had that it can use for Ukraine aid,” the host framed. “That’s a hell of an accounting error! And it provides a lot of fodder to critics of U.S. aid to Ukraine, and critics who say there’s not enough oversight going on. Are you concerned about this accounting error?”
Jake Sullivan on the Pentagon's $3 billion "accounting error" over Ukraine aid: "That is not money that went out the door and disappeared. That is not a waste of that $3 billion." pic.twitter.com/b8s2BJE1JG
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 21, 2023
Skipping over the convenient timing on the revelation that came just days before Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Japan to reaffirm the United States’ support of his country’s war effort, Sullivan also disregarded any cause for concern about the oversight capabilities of the federal government.
“That is not money that went out the door and disappeared,” the NSA contended. “That is not a waste of that $3 billion. It is simply a tally of how much military equipment we have given them. And the way that the Pentagon was counting it was what’s the replacement cost for the equipment we provide rather than just the actual cost of that equipment. Once you make that adjustment, it turns out we have an additional $3 billion that we can spend to provide even more weapons to Ukraine.”
Sullivan continued, “At the end of the day, not one penny of U.S. Dollars will have gone missing, or have been misallocated. It will all be provided in the form of equipment to Ukraine on the battlefield. But of course, it would be better to get it right in terms of the accounting up front. In the end, though, the Pentagon discovered the error. The Pentagon corrected the error. And Ukraine will get what it needs. And the American taxpayer will be able to be confident that this money is being spent effectively and appropriately.”
Meanwhile, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) had released a joint statement Thursday upon hearing of the “accounting error” that disabused the NSA’s suggestion that not a penny had been “misallocated.”
“The revelation of a three-billion-dollar accounting error discovered two months ago and only today shared with Congress is extremely problematic, to say the least,” their statement read. “These funds could have been used for extra supplies and weapons for the upcoming counteroffensive, instead of rationing funds to last for the remainder of the fiscal year. The Biden Administration must make up for this precious lost time by using these funds to provide Ukraine the DPICMS [Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition] and ATACMS [Army Tactical Missile System] they need to fuel the counteroffensive and win the war.”
In other words, by falling short of providing all of the allocated aid upfront, the errant supply of munitions and equipment could cost the American taxpayer even more money going forward as restrictions will be placed on Ukrainian forces in the near-term.
Sunday, Biden authorized the Secretary of State through the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to drawdown as much as $375 million “in defense articles and spending of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Ukraine and to make the determinations required under such section to direct such a drawdown.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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