U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a stern warning to those engaged in government fraud at the most recent Cabinet meeting on Monday.
Speaking with President Donald Trump present at the meeting, Bondi thanked Tesla CEO Elon Musk for uncovering ‘fraud, waste and abuse’ through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.
‘A lot of waste and abuse, but there is a tremendous amount of fraud,’ Bondi began. ‘And, Elon, thank you for your partnership. Thank you for your team. You have uncovered so much fraud in our government.’
Bondi then revealed that an internal task force is involved with bringing those accused of fraud to justice.
‘We will prosecute you,’ the attorney general warned. ‘We have an internal task force now working with every agency sitting here at this table. And if you’ve committed fraud, we’re coming after you. Thank you, Elon.’
Bondi also mentioned that, under Trump’s directive, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will begin seeking the death penalty for those convicted of violent crimes.
‘All of these horrible violent criminals that you’re hearing about around the country, they will face the death penalty federally within our country,’ Bondi said. ‘And the drug dealers need to get out of here, because we are coming after you. We’re going to have 94 great U.S. attorneys around this country, and everyone will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’
The topic of government fraud was mentioned throughout the meeting, with Musk claiming that he found $330 million worth of waste within the Small Business Administration (SBA).
‘[We found] a case of fraud and waste with the Small Business Administration, where they were handing out $330 million worth of loans to people under the age of 11,’ Musk said. ‘I think the youngest was a nine month year [sic] old who got a $100,000 loan.’
‘That’s a very precocious baby we’re talking about here,’ he joked.
Trump expressed appreciation to both Musk and the rest of the Cabinet for uncovering waste and fraud.
‘We’ve had many fraudulent contracts that were caught by the work that Elon and his people are doing,’ the president said. ‘And working with our people, it’s been brought to light. The fraud, not just waste and abuse, the fraud has been incredible.’
