USAID’s Office of Inpector General: who we are!

Adam Kaplan, Acting General Counsel

I practice law in USAID’s Office of Inspector General (USAID OIG), where I’ve worked since January 2018. Currently, I serve as Acting General Counsel where I lead a team of attorneys responsible for providing legal and strategic advice in support of the organization’s mission to “safeguard and strengthen U.S. foreign assistance through timely and impactful oversight.” This mission is more important than ever as OIG advances its efforts to provide comprehensive oversight over USAID’s support to Ukraine and its people, suffering from the catastrophic effects of Russia’s invasion.. To share a little more about our office, USAID OIG is one of approximately 74 U.S. Federal Inspector Generals (IGs) that are responsible for conducting independent oversight of their respective Executive Branch agencies. USAID OIG is statutorily responsible for oversight of USAID, along with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, African Development Foundation, and Inter-American Foundation. For many IGs, including USAID, the Inspector General is appointed by the President of the United States and can only be removed from office by the President. This serves to prevent interference from an OIG’s home agency, and grants us the independence to audit and investigate matters of our choosing. IGs must have access to independent legal counsel to ensure the IG’s equities and independence. At USAID OIG, our Office of Investigations employs approximately 30 criminal investigators serving in Washington and six offices overseas, joined by investigative analysts and other operational support staff. OIG investigators act on reports of corruption and misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse, that compromise U.S.-funded foreign assistance programs. Outcomes of these investigations include criminal prosecutions, civil False Claims Act settlements, and suspension/debarment from U.S. government programs. OIG’s Office of Audit conducts audits and evaluations of USAID programs and operations. The reports produced typically result in recommendations to improve the effectiveness, economy, efficiency, internal control, and compliance with requirements of foreign assistance programs. As attorneys, we play an intricate part in ensuring the success of USAID OIG’s operational divisions. To highlight just a few areas of our practice:

● We conduct legal research and provide legal sufficiency reviews of all organizational products.

● We draft and serve subpoenas to support our investigators in furthering their cases, and join our agents and partners at the Department of Justice in negotiating production requests, interviews, and monetary settlements with defense counsel.

● We present at forums of NGO and other aid officials to emphasize the need for cooperation with OIG and reporting allegations of fraud, bribery, and other misconduct including sexual exploitation and abuse. We also emphasize legal protections for whistleblowers.

● We negotiate MOUs with UN and bilateral donor oversight counterparts to further collaboration and coordination of our organizations’ respective efforts

● We work closely with USAID’s Compliance Division, responsible for furthering the suspension and debarment of non-responsible parties.

● We engage with Congress on their priorities and interests related to our work, and ensure that the key messages from all of our work products are amplified to external stakeholders.

The fast-paced, vigorous nature of working at USAID OIG is complemented by its very compelling mission. A favorite part of my job is working to reach common goals or amicable solutions with counsel from other stakeholders in the international aid sector, including NGOs in the U.S. and abroad, UN organizations, multilateral development banks, and other donor countries. One such example is where we reached an agreement with European-based NGOs in transferring sensitive data in a manner that minimizes exposure for organizations subject to EU and UK data privacy law. We often operate in areas where there exists little black-letter law, so creativity is required, as is developing relationships and building trust. These relationships are always collegial and while we approach foreign assistance from different angles, we share a common goal in improving operations, ensuring the timely and safe delivery of foreign assistance, and preventing bad actors from recirculating across the aid sector. that affect U.S.-funded foreign aid programs and works to hold bad actors accountable.

To learn more about USAID OIG and keep up to date on their work, and job openings, please visit https://oig.usaid.gov