According to the House Committee on Natural Resources, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi personally directed that $200 million appropriated for deferred maintenance projects in national parks be spent entirely on one park in her district. That park, The Presidio of San Francisco, happens to be near her mansion there (the one where her husband Paul was attacked – a story that has disappeared from the media when it became apparent the suspected assailant was a lefty).
The move follows the removal of all Republican appointees to the Presidio Trust Board, which would have been able to review the move and the expenditure of the $200 million (there are a lot of contracts to be given to private interests to perform the work. The most famous member of that board was Michael Savage.
The House Committee’s press release explains:
Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Subcommittee on Federal Lands Chairman Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife and Parks Assistant Secretary Shannon Estenoz, requesting information on the transfer of $200 million to a luxury park in U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) district. In part, the members wrote:
"During a Subcommittee on Federal Lands (Subcommittee) oversight hearing held on Tuesday, April 18, NPS Director Chuck Sams testified that you personally directed the transfer of $200 million in funding provided in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to address deferred maintenance to the Presidio Trust, despite the fact that this was not consistent with standard agency practices for selecting priority deferred maintenance projects. As part of its oversight activities, the Committee is now examining this transfer of funds to the Presidio Trust.
"As you are aware, the National Park System currently reports approximately $22.3 billion in deferred maintenance and repairs. In addition to other discretionary and mandatory funding sources, the NPS was provided with approximately $1.53 billion this fiscal year, including $1.33 billion through the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and $200 million in the IRA, to address priority deferred maintenance projects across the nation. Concerningly, nearly 24 percent of that funding went to one Congressional district, represented by former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, including the entire $200 million provided for deferred maintenance in the IRA. Prior to this transfer, the Committee raised concerns and conducted oversight inquiries into the disproportionate amount of funding allocated to former Speaker Pelosi’s district compared to the rest of the National Park System.
"Director Sams’ testimony before the Subcommittee raised numerous questions about whether the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding transferred to the Presidio in San Francisco will be appropriately utilized for deferred maintenance and repairs. The Presidio of San Francisco is a 1,500-acre former military installation now used as a public recreation area within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area with pristine golf courses, high-end hotels, and luxury private homes and apartments. During the hearing, Director Sams testified that the Department transferred funding to the Presidio without stipulations or restrictions on whether the Presidio’s golf courses or luxury hotels would be eligible federal funding for deferred maintenance or improvements."
Read the full letter here.
Clearly, there are opportunities for malfeasance aplenty when private interests ow luxury properties that might be benefitted by the expenditure of federal funds, especially when the prying eyes of Republicans have been defenestrated from the board that oversees such matters.
And how does one Congresswoman have the power to direct funds in this way?
Is it possible to be cynical enough about Pelosi, who somehow became very rich while in Congress?
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/04/house_committee_to_investigate_pelosis_grab_of_200_million_park_maintenance_slush_fund.html
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