Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin says he has made several criminal referrals after uncovering a major political enrichment scandal that routed billions in Biden-era green energy grants to Democrat cronies. “It’s about self-dealing,” Zeldin tells Just the News.
Zeldin said he has canceled or stopped about $29 billion in EPA grants – including one for $2 billion to a nonprofit tied to longtime Georgia Democrat election activist and failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams – after unmasking a series of pass-through groups used to route taxpayer monies to the politically connected.
“As you look through all of these pass-through entities, you’re seeing so many connections to former Obama and Biden administration officials and Democratic donors, people who were former Cabinet members, other high-ranking administration officials,” he said during a wide-ranging interview Monday on the John Solomon Reports podcast.
Zeldin: “Blatant waste and abuse.”
Zeldin said he has referred several of the transactions to the EPA inspector general, the agency’s chief watchdog, and the Justice Department for possible prosecution or further investigation. “Those referrals have been made,” he said.
Zeldin said some of the allegations have their roots in legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, when Congress and the White House were all in Democrat hands. “They included all of this funding in this so-called Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. And then they would work with these different agencies of the Biden administration to get it out to their unqualified friends. The whole thing just feels criminal,” he said. “[…] This is clearly something that falls into the category of blatant waste and abuse.”
Zeldin has repeatedly singled out the Biden administration’s $2 billion grant to Power Forward Communities, a nonprofit tied to the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abrams. The funds were awarded in 2024 to finance “residential decarbonization,” which was an effort to replace gas furnaces and other appliances with electric ones.
Abrams reportedly “played a pivotal role” in establishing the group, according to Fox News.
The award came under scrutiny after it was revealed Power Forward Communities had reported only $100 the year before the award. The Trump administration’s EPA announced in February 2025 it was taking measures to get the money back as part of an overall effort to claw back funding rushed out the door in the final days of the Biden administration.
Abrams, who worked for a group called Vitalizing De Soto that was tied to Power Forward, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, saying the grant was intended to help homeowners to buy eco-friendly appliances.
“Based on that program, a coalition of organizations – famous organizations – came together and said to the EPA, ‘if we can do this here, we can do this for millions more Americans,’” Abrams explained in a 2025 interview on MSNBC. “’Let us invest the money of America in lowering the cost for Americans.’”
Group says Biden shoveled billions to left-wing interest groups on exiting the White House
Judicial Watch has sued to try to get more information about the grant. “As the Biden administration was collapsing in 2024, it lawlessly rushed out billions in cash to left-wing interest groups in a way that encouraged fraud and abuse. The Trump EPA team should disclose and expose every single document about this massive Biden corruption scandal,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
Zeldin’s quest for accountability began in spring 2025 when his agency revealed that Biden rushed out $20 billion in the greenhouse gas reduction fund to be held in an account by the New York-based Citibank, with just eight nonprofits having the right to spend it.
EPA asked the IG to investigate, providing in its letter several transactions that raised concerns, including that:
- Jahi Wise, the former director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, “personally oversaw” a $5 billion grant to his previous employer;
- The $2 billion was given to the Abrams-tied Power Forward Communities.
- Young, Gifted & Green was awarded $20 million, even though its CEO applied for funding while serving on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
You can read the EPA’s letter here.
The $20 billion in funding has been canceled, but it is tied up now in federal court litigation. To date, no major criminal prosecutions have been brought against grant recipients.
But EPA has released recent information indicating that career EPA officials were deeply suspicious of the Biden administration’s rushed effort to give the $20 billion to groups with little history of handling major federal business and with deep political ties.
“Comments from the panel of government career staffers during the application review process highlighted concerns over handing billions of American tax dollars to these groups in addition to the lack of financial background to handle such large sums of money,” the agency recently wrote.
A federal judge initially blocked Zeldin’s efforts and allowed the groups to access the money. Then a three-judge appeals panel sided with EPA. The full DC Circuit Court of Appeals is currently reviewing the case, and it could eventually head to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Zeldin said he is confident that when all litigation is complete, most of the $29 billion in grants he has flagged and blocked will be returned to the Treasury as savings for taxpayers.
“We’re not taking money from left-wing NGOs to give them to right-wing NGOs,” he said. “This is about getting that money back to the taxpayer. This is about making sure that that money coming through an agency like EPA doesn’t have any amount of waste and abuse, that there’s a zero tolerance for it.”
John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and digital media entrepreneur who serves as Chief Executive Officer and Editor in Chief of Just the News. Before founding Just the News, Solomon played key reporting and executive roles at some of America’s most important journalism institutions, such as The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Newsweek, The Daily Beast and The Hill.
Reprinted with permission from Just the News by John Solomon.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Did not Obama do the same, gave money freely to his political buddies for businesses that went bankrupt right after receiving the money, did they have to repay, was he ever held accountable, it’s a normal procedure. Not one question asked ever, anything goes if you are a “democrat” Press is like the three monkeys.Shame.
Since the mainstream media isn’t touching this it’s up to us to get it out there and share it on social media.
The fraud being uncovered is unbelievable!!
(our tax dollars at work)
The question is now, is the DOJ going to demand reemburstment of that money.
And then prosecute them.
When are the corrupt democrats going to be imprisoned for embezzlement of billions, trillions of taxpayer dollars? I am rife with disgust for the corrupt criminal politicians stealing my and my grandchildren’s Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid tax money to pay for political votes to ensure democrats get elected and re elected including Clinton, Obama and Biden. As long as republicans play by the democrats rules nothing will happen to those hypocritical thieves. I recall all too well Michelle stating in a speech that,” some of us are going to have to sacrifice”. However it wasn’t going to Michele or Barrack as they used taxpayer’s money like their personal American Express cards. Filthy crooks that belong in prison for their acts. Well republicans, when are you going to do our duty and bring all of them to justice?
The real question is how much of this money was funneled back to Obama and Biden? And the DNC?
taxpayers got hosed again. Why am I not surprised?
The EPA was nothing but a way to funnel money to Democrat/Communist concerns. The more I hear about the Biden Cabal, the angrier I get. The only reason the DC Dems wanted him to be president is because they knew he was mentally infirm which meant their little group could do anything they wanted. It is sickening what the Cabal and his wife did to that man. I never liked him and did not vote for him but I actually felt sorry for him. What wife would let her husband be laughed at for 4 years while the Cabal nearly ruined our country??? She was in on it.
I bet every one of these groups were mostly libersl whites and minorities… and, of course, Democrats. Scamming the rest of us and screaming racist every time we tried to investigate them.
Literally created agencies out of thin air to fleece the American taxpayers under the guise of saving the planet. That in itself is a con that’s ripe for politicians and bureaucrats to perpetuate a cause that has no return but unlimited funds to do so.
Follow the money!!!!
If the Democrats are involved in it, it is totally corrupt.
The antics of the Biden Crime Family reach far and wide.
it is about time that the waste, fraud and abuse in government is being exposed. Now, the people involved in the waste, fraud and abuse need to be held accountable through the loss of their jobs. Also, if any criminality was involved, people need to face jail time.
Tom Steyer, who spent over $100 million to buy the CA primary, got millions from Barry Soetero during his “reign.” He ran Solyndra, a fake environmental company, which did NOTHING to help the environment! Wanna bet he sent a lot right back to DIMM candidates? That’s called “money laundering” when the Mafia does it!
Wait. Do you expect me to beLIEVE Green Energy charlatans, hired by the Feds, paid by the FEDS, working FOR the Feds (with long term gubmint ‘contracts’) may have committed some minor crimes?
Woe is me! SAY it isn’t so! (smmfh while rolling eyes…)
If there were ever any doubts that the Biden administration was anything but a totally corrupted one, then Lee Zeldins exposure of it should put those doubts to rest. In a perfect world, America’s worst and most corrupt and greedy, and also the most seditious, president, Joe Biden, would die in a prison cell.
Why am I shocked? SHOCKED! When I hear this sort of thing I just want to CLUTCH MY PEARLS and drink copious amounts of MaDDog 2020!
Where are our heroes, the Congre$$?! The $enate?! SURELY their forthright and benevolent guidance will SAVE us from this decadence!!
Yup. Uh-huh. I’ma waitin’. You, too…?
E.g., to enemies of USA.
The problem Is no one is ever punished for doing these things. The NGO’s who got money need to show what they did with it and that it went for what it was supposed to. I know it takes money to do this but there are people like myself who would work mighty cheap if we were sure the swindlers would be punished
No kidding. Like we didn’t already know this.
The Green Energy movement is not about controlling the environment, it’s about controlling you.
I’m sure that this mater will be lost down the rabbit hole in a few weeks never to be heard about again. The EPA inspector general if doing their job as paid to do, this would never have happened in the first place.