Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch during a recent hearing would not say if the Department of Defense has complied with policy and law regarding end-use monitoring for weapons it has given Ukraine, under questioning from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
Gaetz asked Storch several times during a House Armed Services Committee’s hearing on Ukraine on Tuesday to confirm whether the DOD has complied with the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, meant to make sure U.S. weapons transfers do not fall into the wrong hands.
Gaetz asked him: “As you testify here today, you cannot testify, truthfully under oath, that the DOD has complied with the policy and law regarding end-use monitoring during all times in this conflict. Isn’t that right?”
Storch responded, “We are conducting a series of evaluations that look at the controls that DOD has in place to ensure that they are taking the steps that are required.”
Gaetz asked the question a third time: “You cannot testify that we have complied with the end-use monitoring requirements at all times during this conflict, can you?”
Storch again responded that there was an “ongoing evaluation,” and when Gaetz asked about DOD monitoring in the past, Storch said, “So some of that gets into the classified report that we issued previously.”
