Four plead guilty in massive bribery scheme at agency Democrats fought to protect from DOGE

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency essentially dismantled by DOGE amid complaints from Democrats that cutting waste would harm impoverished countries, is at the center of a massive bribery scandal.

A federal contracting officer and three businessmen have pleaded guilty in a scheme involving bribes like cash, NBA tickets, and a country club wedding in a scandal the Department of Justice (DOJ) said was part of a $550 million scam, Fox News Chief Washington Correspondent Mike Emanuel reported Friday. 

Roderick Watson, 57, worked as a USAID contracting officer, according to a DOJ press release, and pleaded guilty to "bribery of a public official."

According to the DOJ, Watson sold his influence starting in 2013, with contractors Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, funneling payoffs through subcontractor Paul Young to hide their tracks. 

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"During the scheme, Britt and Barnes paid bribes to Watson that were often concealed by passing them through Young, who was the president of another subcontractor to Apprio and Vistant," the press release explained. 

"Britt and Barnes also regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices. Watson is alleged to have received bribes valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme."

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Vistant was awarded in November 2023, as part of a joint venture, a contract worth up to $800 million with one of the focuses of that contract being to address "a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States," an issue that President Joe Biden tasked then-Vice President Kamala Harris with during his presidency.

Several days later, that contract was canceled after USAID published a notice that said Vistant was excluded from government contracting due to "evidence of conduct of a lack of business honesty or integrity."

The joint venture then successfully sued the government over being put on that exclusion list and was re-awarded the contract and given a $10,000 payment in August 2024. 

"Corruption in government programs will not be tolerated. Watson abused his position of trust for personal gain while federal contractors engaged in a pay-to-play scheme," Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Sean Bottary of the USAID Office of Inspector General (USAID-OIG) said in the press release.

"USAID-OIG is firmly committed to rooting out fraud and corruption within U.S. foreign assistance programs. Today’s announcement underscores our unwavering focus on exposing criminal activity, including bribery schemes by those entrusted to faithfully award government contracts. We appreciate our longstanding partnership with the Department of Justice in holding accountable those who defraud American taxpayers."    

USAID was one of the public faces and most drastic examples of DOGE's efforts to cut waste, fraud, and abuse in government, and the effort resulted in the agency's programs being cut by 83%, while the programs deemed vital were moved to the State Department. 

USAID's website went dark, and employees were barred from entering its headquarters on Feb. 3, while others had their work put on hold. The Trump administration then announced that all USAID direct-hire personnel would be put on administrative leave.

The agency came under fire for many funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities" and a $70,000 program for a "DEI musical" in Ireland.

During DOGE's sweep, it was revealed that U.S. dollars were ending up in the hands of terror-linked groups, such as funds reportedly providing "full funding" for al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki to attend college in Colorado, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

As DOGE was dismantling USAID, many Democrats and media outlets blasted the cuts, claiming they would harm impoverished recipients of aid across the globe and some, including U2 frontman Bono, who said the cuts would lead to over 300,000 deaths. 

Several House and Senate Democrats protested outside of USAID's headquarters in early February, expressing outrage over the layoffs and cuts, The Hill reported.

"Anybody who cares about good and effective government should be concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies, including USAID," Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in the DOJ's press release. 

Fox News Digital's Diana Stancy and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.