President Donald Trump and his administration are working to identify and address examples of waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending by the prior Biden-Harris administration, and one such discovery involved a $20 billion slush fund hidden within a non-governmental financial institution for climate change groups to use.

The Environmental Protection Agency under new Administrator Lee Zeldin has now formally referred for review the apparent mismanagement of the so-called "Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund" to the EPA's acting inspector general, the Daily Caller reported.

That IG referral comes as the Department of Justice and FBI are said to be already investigating the GGRF for evidence of potential criminal fraud.

$20 billion in EPA funds found hidden from Trump admin

It was in mid-February that EPA Administrator Zeldin announced the shocking discovery of around $20 billion in taxpayer funds that the agency had squirreled away in an outside bank in an apparent effort to stymie oversight of that money for climate change groups and initiatives by the incoming Trump administration.

Remarkably, that discovery came just a couple of months after a former EPA official was caught on video discussing how the outgoing Biden-Harris administration was essentially "tossing gold bars off the Titanic" by shoveling money out the door before the new administration could do anything about it.

"Roughly twenty billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution by the Biden EPA. This scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history and it was purposefully designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight," Zeldin said at the time in a statement that also vowed to refer the matter to the inspector general's office.

"One of my very top priorities at EPA is to be an excellent steward of your hard-earned tax dollars. There will be zero tolerance of any waste and abuse," he added. "We will review every penny that has gone out the door. The days of irresponsibly shoveling boat loads of cash to far-left, activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over."

The referral letter

Fast-forward roughly two weeks and the vowed referral to the EPA IG's office has now been fulfilled, as revealed by a four-page letter from Acting Deputy Administrator W.C. Mclntosh to Acting Inspector General Nicole Murley.

The letter called for a formal IG review of the alleged "financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and oversight failures within the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF)" that would coincide with the EPA's own internal administrative probe and an ongoing investigation by the DOJ and FBI.

"Recent findings reveal a pattern of reckless financial management, blatant conflicts of interest, astonishing sums of tax dollars awarded to unqualified recipients, and severe deficiencies in regulatory oversight under the prior administration," McIntosh wrote. "The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) plays a critical role in eliminating waste and abuse, and we stand with your office in our shared mission to restore accountability and prevent further misuse of taxpayer dollars."

"One of the most disturbing initial indicators of financial misconduct is a publicly circulated video of a former Biden Administration EPA political appointee boasting that officials were 'tossing gold bars off the Titanic' -- rushing to distribute billions in taxpayer dollars before the incoming administration could review or halt improper disbursements," the letter continued. "Even more troubling, the official implied that political favoritism influenced funding decisions, with expectations of securing employment at grant-recipient organizations."

The letter went on to provide multiple documented examples each of alleged lack of EPA oversight of the GGRF, conflicts of interest and political favoritism, and lack of financial competency from recipients, and warned, "These examples are the tip of the iceberg and suggest a deeply entrenched pattern of political favoritism, lack of qualifications, and other possibly unlawful allocation of taxpayer funds. Disturbingly, these cases likely represent only a fraction of broader issues."

EPA will continue to "aggressively pursue" oversight and accountability

The letter from Acting Deputy Administrator McIntosh to Acting IG Murley concluded, "While these issues can be fully investigated, we will continue to aggressively pursue enhanced oversight, answers, and accountability. We stand firmly alongside the Office of the Inspector General in our shared mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse with the EPA. I look forward to your recommendations."

In a statement announcing the IG referral letter, Administrator Zeldin said, "It is my pledge to be accountable for every penny the EPA spends. This marks a stark turn from the waste and self-dealing of the Biden-Harris Administration intentionally tossing 'gold bars off the Titanic.' The American people deserve accountability and responsible stewardship of their tax dollars. We will continue to deliver."