Republican-led committee targets COVID relief aid for review

By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have begun their promised aggressive oversight of the Biden administration. The focus Wednesday was on what watchdogs describe as “indications of widespread fraud” in federal coronavirus aid programs initiated under President Donald Trump. GOP lawmakers complained that too little attention was paid to the problems when Democrats controlled Congress, but Democrats blamed the Trump administration for much of the mess. More than 1,000 people have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of federal charges of defrauding the myriad programs. And more than 600 other people and entities face federal fraud charges. But that’s just the start, according to investigators who testified at a House hearing.