EXCLUSIVE: House GOP firebrand drives DOGE committee investigation of government media agency corruption

EXCLUSIVE – DOGE subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, is investigating "gross negligence" and "rampant cronyism" at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a government media agency run by former legacy media executives.

Greene told Fox News Digital that abuses at the U.S. Agency for Global Media – USAGM – pose a "direct threat to national security."  

USAGM is a government-funded international media agency that oversees several radio, TV and digital media outlets worldwide, including Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 

Founded in 1999, the agency has been primarily staffed by journalists from mainstream media outlets, with former CEOs coming from agencies such as MSNBC and NPR.

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Kari Lake, the Trump administration’s senior advisor overseeing USAGM, has previously bashed the agency as "not salvageable," saying that "from top-to-bottom, this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer—a national security risk for this nation—and irretrievably broken."

Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy," commanding the dismantling of USAGM, as well as six other government offices.  

Before the agency is entirely shut down, however, Greene is requesting Lake give Congress access to key records from the agency to shed further light on "serious allegations of corruption, financial mismanagement, and national security failures."

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital addressed to Lake, Greene said that over the past decade, the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have uncovered "gross negligence and intentional defiance of national security protocols, resulting in unfettered and unauthorized access of sensitive information by federal employees."

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Greene pointed to a further "full-scale investigation" launched in 2020 by independent law firm McGuireWoods that confirmed whistleblower testimonies about severe mismanagement and corruption within the agency.

According to Greene, abuses included unlawfully granting J-1 visas and awarding millions of dollars in contracts through the Open Technology Fund to friends and individuals with whom there were conflicts of interest.

Greene said that other "egregious abuses" uncovered by the McGuireWoods investigation included senior officials at the agency erasing entire laptop hard drives before turning them in to investigators.  

Despite the individuals responsible being fired under the first Trump administration, Greene said that "nearly all" of those involved in the wrongdoing were rehired under the Biden administration, "allowing them to resume their previous activities with zero consequences."  

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The congresswoman is demanding access to information regarding all grant agreements awarded through the Open Technology Fund, all settlement agreements for individuals implicated in the McGuireWoods report and any additional communications or information that Lake deems relevant.

"For years, USAGM engaged in rampant cronyism, issuing corrupt contracts to friends and family through the Open Technology Fund (OTF), while senior officials bypassed security protocols, mishandled sensitive information, and obstructed investigations," a statement by Greene’s office said.

Greene told Fox News Digital that she considers the Biden administration’s decision to rehire the officials responsible for the abuse not only an "insult to taxpayers" but also a "direct threat to national security."

"We will not allow the former Biden regime to cover up illegal activity and shield bad actors from accountability," she said.

Fox News Digital politics reporter Emma Colton contributed to this report.