U.S. Senator Mike Lee led a group of congressional members on March 11 urging the Department of Justice to continue its investigation into the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) following reports of fraud and corruption involving senior officials.
The letter, signed by Lee and several colleagues from both the House and Senate, highlights concerns about ongoing misconduct at USADF and calls for further scrutiny beyond the recent guilty plea of a senior official. The lawmakers argue that addressing these issues is important to ensure accountability in federal agencies managing public funds.
In their letter to Attorney General Bondi, the coalition wrote: “Thank you for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) work to expose the egregious corruption at the United States African Development Foundation (USADF). Despite years of severe misconduct by senior leaders of the agency, the previous administration not only failed to detect blatant corruption but refused to act on credible allegations brought to light. Under your leadership, the DOJ’s successful investigation into Mathieu Zahui, a senior USADF official pleading guilty to accepting gratuities, exposed the rogue agency and was a critical first step in serving justice.”
The letter continues: “We write to support further investigation into USADF. While the Zahui case is an important win, the institutional corruption runs far deeper than one official. Other senior officials, contractors, and grantees have been exposed by credible whistleblower testimonies and evidence, and it is unclear how much of the hundreds of millions of dollars managed by USADF fed the scheme.” The lawmakers also referenced an incident in March 2025 when USADF officials denied access to DOJ staffers until U.S. Marshals intervened.
Lee serves as United States Senator for Utah and represents the entire state according to his official website. He maintains offices in Salt Lake City, St. George, Vernal, Utah, and Washington D.C., offering constituent services including communication on federal matters according to his office. Lee advocates for limited government, fiscal responsibility, energy independence, military strength, balanced budget amendments, term limits, as well as legislative action on public safety, health care and economic issues according to his official website.
The lawmakers concluded their letter with: “We urge you to leave no stone unturned as you uncover more waste, fraud, and abuse. We cannot make peace with such reckless and deep corruption. On behalf of the American people, we thank you for your tireless efforts to bring forth justice, and we stand ready to support the DOJ’s investigation in any way we can.”
