PutinOnTheRitz (@PutinOnTheRitz)

China Connection? Climate United 'Slush Fund' Suing Over $7 Billion Tied to Foreign Interests "The Climate United Fund scandal is even worse than we thought." If you haven’t been following the Climate United Fund scandal, then buckle up, because it’s one hell of an electric vehicle ride on the corruption superhighway. If you’re not up to speed, here are the basics. The green slush funds the Biden administration hastily disbursed before exiting stage left was among $370 billion overseen by Clinton hatchetman John Podesta. In April 2024, the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded nearly $7 billion to a newly formed nonprofit called the Climate United Fund (CUF). This hastily constructed nonprofit with deep Democratic ties, little transparency, and a vague spending plan was somehow able to obtain the largest grant of its kind. The founders of this “popup NGO shell” claim it was intended to support “clean energy initiatives.” Climate United Fund’s actual purpose appears to be Democrat insiders looting taxpayers for billions of dollars. Elizabeth MacDonald of Fox Business sounded the alarm: This is disturbing – Biden and Obama Democrats created a new beast, the “popup nonprofit shell” they suddenly launch to take in your taxpayer money supposedly for things like climate change and illegal immigration. Major front for taxpayer abuse with accusations of grift growing by the hour. Never saw it like this in decades covering IRS/taxes. Check out the tax returns for one of these popup NGO shells, the Climate United Fund which got the biggest nonprofit grant in history out of Biden’s massive climate slush funds. Kamala Harris and Biden’s EPA chief Michael Regan gave $7 billion total to the suddenly created Climate United Fund in April 2024 after it launched just five months earlier in November 30, 2022 when Its tax returns show it started with a tiny $547K in revs. But it spent a massive $451K of that $547k in just two months in 2023, a quarter of that on legal fees and the majority $323K mysteriously blown on no one knows what because its tax returns don’t say. As Stephen McIntyre of Climate Audit has noted, “the phrase ‘popup NGO shell’ is a nice one. To be precise, they are structured as a sort of partnership of mostly very substantial underlying NGOs, the officials of whom earn up to $1 million. These underlying NGOs seem to be mainly in the business of loaning federal money while eating up huge overheads.” Prior to receiving this massive funding, CUF’s tax filings show it had only $547,000 in revenue, of which it spent $451,000 in just two months—without a clear breakdown of expenditures beyond legal fees and other vague costs. After taking office in January 2025, President Donald Trump’s new EPA, under Administrator Lee Zeldin, conducted a review of the grant program. By February, the agency announced a freeze on CUF’s funds, citing financial irregularities and the organization’s lack of experience in handling large-scale climate investments. The EPA also signaled plans to claw back the $7 billion in taxpayer money, pending further investigations into how CUF obtained the grant in the first place. This move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to rein in what it calls the “Biden climate slush fund,” a reference to the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund created under the Inflation Reduction Act. The National Clean Investment Fund, in particular, has been tied to three of these alleged “slush funds”: Climate United Fund - Award Amount: $6,970,000,000 Coalition for Green Capital - Award Amount: $5,000,000,000 Power Forward Communities - Award Amount: $2,000,000,000 The Trump administration credibly argues that these funds have been used to funnel money into Democratic-aligned organizations with almost no oversight. Climate United Files Lawsuit to Unfreeze Funds In response to the freeze, Climate United Fund has filed a lawsuit against the EPA and Citibank, which had been managing the grant funds. CUF claims that the Trump administration is unlawfully blocking funds that were legally awarded and that this action is putting key climate projects at risk. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, incredibly enough, has been brought before Judge Tanya Chutkan. CUF argues that Citibank is improperly withholding funds at the direction of the Trump administration and that the EPA is violating administrative law by reversing a legally binding grant agreement. As Julie Kelly reported: A lawsuit filed yesterday by newly-formed Climate United--headed by former Obama aide Beth Bafford and stacked with Dem activists--that received $7 billion from Biden EPA's climate slush fund confirms Citibank has frozen disbursements to the fund… Every time I dig into this scandal, it gets worse. As @epaleezeldin disclosed last month, Biden's EPA "parked" $20 billion at Citi in November 2024--a first of its kind arrangement clearly intended to keep funds away from GOP Congress and potential Trump White House. Climate United is seeking a temporary restraining order against EPA and Citi to force the bank to dole out the funds (our tax money, obviously). Case is before Judge Tanya Chutkan. CUF is a coalition of three nonprofit lending institutions: Calvert Impact Capital, the Community Preservation Corporation, and the Self-Help Credit Union. While CUF claims its coalition members have managed more than $30 billion in private capital, financial statements suggest that their actual assets are far lower. CUF’s leadership has strong ties to Democratic operatives. CEO Beth Bafford previously worked in the Obama administration’s Office of Management and Budget and was a regional field director for Obama’s presidential campaign. Other key figures linked to CUF include former California Democratic Party Chairman Phil Angelides, Obama’s Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, and Congressional Black Caucus ally Patrice Willoughby. Additionally, part of CUF’s $7 billion was allocated to Power Forward Communities, a nonprofit linked to Stacey Abrams, which received $2 billion under the same climate initiative. Power Forward, like CUF, is experiencing its own scandal: It appears to have funneled taxpayer money to the Kamala Harris campaign. https://www.thekylebecker.com/p/china-connection-bidens-seedy-climate