Morning Wire - COVID Relief Fraud & NY Pizza Oven Regulation | 6.29.23

Episode Date: June 29, 2023

A new report estimates that billions of dollars in COVID relief funds have been fraudulently obtained, A House subcommittee is accusing the Biden administration of censoring the online speech of Americans, and New York seeks to slice emissions from pizzerias. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.  Babbel: For a limited time, get 55% off your Babbel subscription at http://www.babbel.com/wire  Cynch: Download the Cynch app and get your first tank exchange for just $10 with promo code WIRE. Visit http://cynch.com/offer for details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new report from the Small Business Administration estimates that billions of dollars in COVID relief funds have been given to fraudsters since 2020. This is undoubtedly the largest public fraud crisis we've ever seen. How has the SBA explained the estimation and can the money be recovered? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, June 29th, and this is Morning Wire. A House subcommittee is accusing the Biden administration of censoring the online speech of Americans with the help of big tech covering their tracks. It has gone so far beyond its original mission set of cybersecurity.

Now they're focused on misinformation and becoming the arbiters of so-called truth. And New York City seeks to slice emissions from pizzerias that use coal and woodfire ovens. Give us pizza. Well, give us death. Why is New York's pizza community so strongly opposed? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

A new report estimates that a stunning $200 billion in COVID relief funds and grants were distributed to potential fraudsters since 2020. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey Amanda. So we've known about large-scale COVID fraud for years now, but this estimate is the largest we've seen to date. break down these new numbers out of the small business administration. Yeah, sure thing.

A report from the SBA office of the Inspector General found that $200 billion in COVID relief was given to potential fraudulent actors between March of 2020. That's when Congress passed the CARES Act in January of 2022. This is from two relief programs, the Paycheck Protection Program, widely known as PPP, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, an estimated $64 billion. was stolen from PPP and 136 billion from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. In total, $1.2 trillion tax dollars were distributed for these programs, so nearly one-fifth of all that money was given to fraudsters. Now, fraud experts say that you can generally

expect about 5% of fraud in any organization. This is estimated at more than triple that at about 17%. Yeah, so significantly higher here. Now, this isn't the total. estimated COVID fraud, correct? Yeah, that's right. This report from the SBA focused in on money given specifically to small businesses. To that point, here's Bob Westbrook, former executive director of the

Federal Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, speaking to News Nation. So the $200 billion that were reported here, keep in mind that's just four programs from the Small Business Administration. There were 426 federal programs that distributed pandemic relief aid. The other program that was hit and hit hard

and hit in all 50 states was the unemployment insurance program. We saw fraud from the very beginning from overseas. Well, $200 billion could be a lowball estimate of total COVID fraud. So how did this happen? I think we can expect some government incompetence, but these numbers are pretty eye-opening. Yeah, certainly. I mean, the SBA, for its part,

it's basically denying the estimate from the IG's office. They're saying that $200 billion estimate is way too high. They say it's likely around $36. billion dollars, you know, still nothing to sneeze at. The SBA also emphasized that 86% of likely fraud happened in the first nine months of these programs. I think the implication is that the urgency of the pandemic contributed to the fraud. The IG's report seemed to blame the relaxation of safeguards due to the pressing strain of the pandemic as well. The report said that the allure of quote, easy money attracted an overwhelming number of fraudsters. Republican Texas Representative

of Roger Williams. He's the chairman of the House Committee on Small Business. He criticized the SBA for failing to implement, quote, basic guardrails to protect the integrity of these programs. Yeah, it appears to be the case. So do we know any specifics about the sort of scams that were pulled off by these fraudsters? Yeah, we certainly have some insight there. The report outlined a number of different cases. Oftentimes, fraudulent or stolen employee identification numbers were used for grants or loans. There were scams pulled off with phone. email addresses. There was one person who scammed the SBA more than 150 times to the tune of millions of dollars. Wow. And a man living in California was able to scam enough money from

PPP that he splurged on three different cars that cost six figures each. I'll note that reports have suggested for years now that some of this fraud was committed by foreigners. Tens of billions of COVID relief dollars have been connected to international scam artists. So where do we stand now on recovery of all this taxpayer money? So far, some $30 billion has been recovered. There have been over 1,000 indictments, 800 arrests, and there are currently 570 investigations ongoing. But most of the losses have been deemed unrecoverable. It's a lot of taxpayer money to lose. Amanda, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. The U.S. Subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government said in a new report released on Monday that an agency within the Biden administration's department

of Homeland Security conspired with big tech to censor American online speech. Joining us to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Brandon Dre. So Brandon, we've covered this purported government big tech collusion, in particular the so-called industrial censorship complex that was coined by the Twitter files reporters. Now this House subcommittee is essentially corroborating that reporting. What's the latest? Hey, Georgia, correct. It's more proof of what some Americans have possibly thought was happening, but couldn't totally prove, except now we can. So the committee obtained non-public documents from the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency, or SISA for short, which revealed that officials within the agency considered

creating a so-called anti-misinformation rapid response team, but instead outsource a censorship operation to a third-party non-government organization that they funded. But the lawmakers said that the most damning portion of this report was that the agency scrubbed any proof of surveillance or censorship activities from its website. So pretty alarming. When did all of this happen and what type of information did the agency target? Well, SISA was initially created in 2018 by the Trump administration to focus on protecting critical infrastructure and countering cybersecurity threats. But it began to, quote, routinely target American speech on social media and the run-up to the 2020 election and

into the midterm elections last year. They mainly censored information surrounding voter fraud or other election-related issues and content related to the pandemic. Now, shortly after President Biden took office, his administration reportedly transitioned the agency to focus more on targeting domestic sources. So in response, SISA formed a since-disbanded team specifically designed to weed out what they believe is,

quote, mis, dis, and malinformation. Now, the administration funded with taxpayer dollars, third-party intermediaries, who essentially received social media posts funneled by the government through these portals that were accused of spreading what they considered dis or misinformation. According to the report, the team wanted to use a government-funded nonprofit to serve as its mouthpiece to, quote, avoid the appearance of government propaganda. And has the government and or SISA responded?

Yeah, so I reached out to them and they denied the report as patently false saying SISA does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship. So what's next here? Is there going to be any over? oversight or changes made to this organization? So it seems like the name of the game these days is there's a lot of talk and no action. Here's Florida Congresswoman Kat Kamik, a member of the subcommittee on Fox News. This is the industrial censorship complex at work. When you have an agency that's rapidly morphed into something that is so unconstitutional,

it's our duty to basically dismantle it. All right. Well, definitely something we're going to continue to report on. Brandon, thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has drafted new rules requiring some pizza places using wood and coal fire ovens to reduce their carbon emissions by 75%, a measure that many fear could shut them down. Here to discuss is Daily Wire contributor and New York City pizza connoisseur David Marcus. So first we've got to talk about this flying pizza protest against this new policy that went viral.

What exactly happened there? Morning. So Scott Labato is New York. based conservative artists known for his viral videos, but this one was next level. After a short speech about the absurdity of all but banning Wood and Coal Oven Pizza, he declared that this was the New York Pizza Party, referring to the Boston Tea Party, and then proceeded to throw slices of pizza over a fence at City Hall while chanting, give us pizza or give us death. And that might sound like hyperbole to some, but not to New Yorkers. The piesta response was the fact that he got a ticket for

doing it. This while people openly do drugs on the subway or illegally splash about naked in fountains at Pride. It really just summed up what people feel is broken about the city perfectly. Now, this is not an outright ban, but owners of these restaurants, including some of the city's most famous, say that the expense of meeting the requirement could actually shut them down. Why would this be so costly? What's the nature of that expense? Yeah, so, I mean, they need to install air purification systems that start at about $20,000 a pop, and then also pay to maintain those systems, which isn't cheap. This at a time when supply chains and inflations have made running any restaurant much more expensive,

not to mention the lingering effects of lockdowns and the fact that fewer people are going to work in person. The fear is that this is an economic straw that could break the camels back. Here's what Republican City Councilman Joe Borrelli had to say. People are upset for a number of reasons, not to have the Department of Environment. And this is not just going to be less you pay to the parade. People are frustrated. They see a city with real problems, and they hear that, it's just absurd. Now, this only affects a small percentage of the overall pizza scene in New York. Why are people so up in arms? Well, there's a hierarchy to New York pizza. At the bottom is the dollar slice, though inflation now has that at 150.

Then there's the regular neighborhood joint. Those use the long, shiny gas ovens that you see in mafia movies when they, like, shove the guy's head into it. And finally, there's the high-end places. like Johns of Bleaker or Grimaldives. These are the ones using wood and coal, and they're legendary. It's a pastime in the city to argue over which one is the best. And so people look at this as just another thing being taken away from them by an overzealous state. And not for nothing. People see this and say, why is it always the affordable luxuries of the middle class being denied in order to save the planet while John Kerry and Leonardo DiCaprio are flying on private jets?

Seems like a valid question. This also follows right on the heels of New York banning future gas stoves. So there's lots of people are already sort of sensitive on this. This plan is only a draft so far, though. So could we see New York EPA reverse the decision, given the outrage it's already created? I definitely think that's possible, but that doesn't address what many see as the deeper problem of creeping regulation. This was a very squeaky wheel. Threatening a New Yorker's pizza is like threatening a New Englander's arrogance.

It's going to get noticed. There are many measures along these lines that the public never really finds out about, at least until it's too late. Yeah, so much of maintaining good public policy is just simply awareness. Dave, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.