Washington – During the first term of President Trump, an Ohio company was claimed by Republican and Democrats after an audit at the Congress. Millions In more profit than federal defense contracts.
Facing bipartisan frustration, Transdigm Group Inc. Finally paid his own agreement. Yet after another review in 2021, underlined similar concerns, the company voluntarily did not return millions of dollars in question. Since then, the expedition finance records show that the company’s CEO Kevin Stein has donated to the candidates of both the major political parties and earlier this year has given more than $ 300,000 to the National Republican Congress Committee, as Mr. Trump and many others rapidly criticized what they saw as waste in the government.
Regarding the business practices of the transdigm, a defense spending for the Qurexy Institute, a defense spending specialist William Hartung, said, “Both sides should shout from the roofs about it.”
Transdigm can be very rarely known to the public on a large scale, but the company has attracted attention to the Congress hall. Within the last decade, Stein has testified to MPs amidst business investigation, which belongs to parts for both military and commercial aircraft.
Iowa Gop Sen Chak Grassley said in a statement, “As my inspection has exposed, Transdig has provoked taxpayers to the tune of millions of dollars.” “The Inspector General of the Department of Defense needs to conduct aggressive inspection of the abuses of transdigm and ensure proper accountability. At the same time, the Defense Department should pursue your game to implement internal controls and to explore alternative routes of production through reverse engineering of spare parts, such as to avoid being Swabled by contractors like transdigm.”
Transdig did not respond to several requests for comments.
In February 2019, an audit issued by Inspector General of Defense Department Office “Determined that for 112 contracts, Transdig earned $ 16.1 million in additional advantage for 46 parts. [Defense Logistics Agency] And army for $ 26.2 million between January 2015 and January 2017. ,
Months later as part of the House Oversite Committee hearing, Stein denied the report while arguing In a written statement that its conclusions “Costs were based on data that excludes many real costs of trading.”
Nevertheless, MPs raised the issue with the company.
North Carolina GOP Rape. Mark Meadows, who later became the Chief of Staff of Mr. Trump at the end of the first term of the President, encouraged the company to “chalk for marketing expenses and immediately pay the US taxpayer.”
Florida Democratic Rape. Debbie Wasraman Shults argued that the business was “looting American taxpayers grossly and affecting our military readiness and impressing our ability to ensure that we had the ability to meet mission-matured goals.”
Across the Capital Hill on the same day, Grassley said during a speech that the report “a glandic price exposes gauzing, colloly rip-off and out-of-the-world waste.”
The company later voluntarily paid $ 16.1 million.
Close to three years Later, During the tenure of Democratic President Joe Biden, the Inspector General of Defense Department released another report from January 2017 to June 2019. The audit “transdigm earned an additional benefit of at least $ 20.8 million at 105 spare parts on 150 contracts.”
A 2022 house hearing on that report was more politically divisive than the same one held in 2019. Stein again testified, and shared what he “explained as a deep concern” with fundamental errors in this report, while some Republicans took the issue with being trained on transdigm.
“I don’t think we should choose any one company, especially an American -owned company, here,” Northern Carolina Gop rape. Virginia Foxx said during the hearing.
Democrats continued to challenge the leaders of the company with Grassley, a Republican.
Progressive Michigan Democratic Rape. Rashida Tlab said at that time, “All of you are the right poster of an out-of-control defense budget, which leads themselves to rich, well-associated with the best interests of American people.”
Later, Grassley Signed a letter Ask to repay the amount of money identified in 2021 audit. A response from the stein received by CBS News shows that the CEO argued that “while the title from the audit report can make the title” additional advantage “, the reality is that this conclusion has been obtained from the audit report, which is the count of real costs of millions of dollars and not found in the law.”
The Defense Department, which is the biggest discretionary budget in the federal government, is susceptible to the long -term value for the contracts. According to the Inspector General of Pentagon, the Government Accountability Office has since included contract management of the Defense Department in its “high ‘risk list of weakened programs for waste and fraud.
A spokesperson of the Federal Government’s Defense Logistics Agency told CBS News on Tuesday that in early 2022, “requested a voluntary refund from transdigm for $ 20.8m, identified in the 2021 report.”
The spokesperson said, “Aaj Tak, the DLA has not received the refund and Transdig has not indicated its intention to pay.”
Prior to the 2024 general elections, Stein donated to help Shri Trump’s President to run, as well as political efforts for Republican and Democrats. On the occasion, as a result to give a Democratic Holiday – and Republican Challenger – as he did in the recent Senate race in Pennsylvania, which ended with the then Democratic Sen. Bob Casey lost to Republican Dave McCormic.
Last year, after donating to Republican, Stein also paid money to some house Democratic candidates from frontline seats in the 2024 cycle, whose victory played a role in keeping the Republican majority narrow.
Stein has also helped in funding a political operation which was donated from transdigm leaders. From the end of 2019 to the end of last year, the group shows the transdigm group ink. The Employees’ Political Action Committee gave money to dozens of Democrats and Republican, including candidates from both major parties who now play a role on the House Over -Jite panel that the company has questioned the company in the past, as well as politicians who are part of the Democratic leadership.
After starting in transdigm in 2014, Stein rises through rank over time, according to an online biography. earlier this yearThe company announced that it would retire as CEOs in late September. Republican Ohio Rape. Max Miller, whose campaign, counted Stein as a donor, called him a “a great person”.
“In the context of my behavior with him, he is very straightforward and narrow,” Miller said. “I have treated other people who are not straight and narrow that I will not take money and tell them, ‘goodbye and there is the door.” And as if or not, Congress members do so that more often than people. ,
In the early part of this year, a clear focus has been to the House Republican of Stein’s political donation. Through a joint money raising group involving Minnesota rape, the third highest ranked Republican in the House, Stein’s money has also gone towards a set of Republican expeditions, which may be important to decide which party has controlled the House for the last two years of Mr. Trump’s time in the White House.
Republican Trump, who lost only three seats in the House, may have a difference between the integrated control GOP of Washington for the last two years of the presidential president or due to limited party power and impact before leaving the party.
Outside the House Chamber last week, New York GOP representative Mike Laler said that the Republican and Trump administration of the Congress want to stop waste in the government. He recently pushed back any concern about any concern about the CEO’s political expenses after his own campaign and the dollar given to other House Republican political campaigns.
“Obviously, in America, people are capable of supporting whatever they want,” Lolar said. “We do not live in Communist Russia, until you would like to go down from that road.”
