The Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund and the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund — both donation-powered initiatives led by the governor — are coming under scrutiny at the request of two Republican members of the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee.
In a letter, the lawmakers said they have serious concerns about due diligence and general oversight of the funds. They point to Herald-Leader reporting that showed thousands of dollars were initially delivered to those unaffected by the floods. But the Beshear administration has countered that, of 200 canceled checks, only 19 were the result of possible fraud and all were referred to FEMA for further investigation.
Pressed on the audit Thursday, Beshear said the administration has been completely transparent and questioned the involvement of Republican State Auditor Mike Harmon.
"For somebody who was running for governor and is supporting the other candidate to announce an audit on something like this three months and two weeks before an election... we all have to admit that's grossly political and we shouldn't be doing it."
The examination will look at funds raised and distributed between December 11, 2021 and June 30.
