Fired: SIGAR John Sopko, 'The Donald Trump of inspectors general’

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), John Sopko, was among those recently fired as part of the Trump administration’s purge of 17 inspectors general (IGs). That’s despite the fact that Sopko proved to be among the most transparent and effective IG in terms of identifying on behalf of taxpayers waste, fraud and abuse 

For going up against powerful “establishment” forces inside the federal government and among contractors in the defense and humanitarian aid world, Sopko was once called “the Donald Trump of Inspectors General.” 

He was frequently targeted by Congress and in the news media on behalf of interests connected to the Pentagon, the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) after he audited their projects that identified waste and fraud.

According to Sopko, Americans spent more than $143 billion in tax money to rebuild Afghanistan as the U.S. war against Islamic extremist terrorists was waged for 20 years. He says that a stunning 30% – or $43 billion of our money – was lost to waste, fraud, or abuse. 

"Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson" asked him who made money off of all that spending.

"Oh, where do I start?” said Sopko, appointed to the post by President Obama. "I mean, our contractors made a heck of a lot of money. You know, they talk about the military industrial complex. Well, there's also, I would call it the development complex. 

"So you got people who are making tons of money working for various, large contractors who usually get the contracts for reconstruction, humanitarian assistance, and all of that. They're doing it right now. They’re making a ton of money. Those are basically the two big ones. And of course, a lot of Afghans who stole the money or made a profit while they were there. Everybody made money in Afghanistan.”

One example we profiled on “Full Measure"  was the case of a fleet of abandoned military planes that Sopko noticed were parked off to the side at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan's capital city. 

"We actually asked the question, 'What are those airplanes?' Because you would see them right next to the main terminal in Kabul. They were all jumbled together with trees and grass growing in between them,” said Sopko, who has over 30 years of experience in oversight and investigations as a prosecutor, congressional counsel, and senior federal government adviser. 

As part of his investigation, he found the planes were purchased at great expense, but then not suited for use in the Afghanistan environment. Plus there was no way to get necessary parts or to train the Afghan pilots on how to fly them. 

Ultimately, the planes were scrapped and sold to an Afghan construction company for six cents a pound: a half-billion dollar investment of U.S. tax dollars whittled down to a measly $32,000. 

Before he was fired, Sopko had already announced his agency would be closing up shop earlier than mandated since the U.S. isn’t spending as much money in Afghanistan, anymore. It was the first time he’d heard of a federal agency deciding to close itself.

All recent presidents have exercised their right to replace IGs. Why Sopko under the Trump administration? No explanation was immediately given. 

His agency indicted and convicted more than 150 people for waste, fraud, and abuse, and was able to return $4 billion to the taxpayer.

For more on this story, watch "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson” Sunday. Attkisson's most recent book is "Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails."