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joining us now to talk about oversight of u.s. military aid to ukraine is the inspector of the defense department, robert storch. thanks for being here. guest: a pleasure to being here. host: what is the role of an inspector object or -- inspector general for the u.s. government. guest: there are 75 in the statutory group under the inspector general act and basically we do independent oversight over the programs, operations and personnel of the departments and agencies we oversee. that means one, audits and evaluations that look at department programs, determine whether they are complying with the law and requirements, and how they might achieve their mission better and then we give recommendations. and we do investigations. we have administrative

investigation groups that looks at the conduct of senior personnel and the criminal investigative service which has hundreds of law enforcement officials that do investigations. host: with respect to ukraine, there has been a lot of discussion that we have sent a lot of money over there but we don't know how it is being spent and what is being done. what is your role in overseeing that and how much information can you give us how much money is being spent? guest: we do robust oversight over all aspects of u.s. security assistance to ukraine and we work with our partners, and others in the oversight community, a 23 member interagency working group that meets regularly to ensure we are conducting comprehensive oversight. the congress created the special inspector general for operation atlantic resolved which includes ukraine assistance and at the

dod i am honored to serve as the special ig. that carries with it both transparency observation and in the assistance to ukraine and oversight and coordination response and making sure we are covering all aspects of the assistance to ukraine. host: what kind of information are you able to get? there is a war going on there. how are you able to get that kind of information? guest: first of all, for the dod, the vast majority is a training supply mission. most of that takes place before stuff gets to ukraine, looking at the process whereby materials are sourced, transferred, the training. once it gets into ukraine it is important so we and our colleagues have personnel in k

iev and we make sure we are getting all the information we need to get oversight. with regard to security assistance, we have done and continue to do evaluations looking at the ways in which the department of defense ensures it is getting the information from the ukrainians regarding the status of the supplies and equipment being provided. host: earlier this year you put out a report and here is the new york times article about it saying u.s. military aid to ukraine was poorly tracked. the report found that american officials and diplomats had failed to quickly or fully account for all of the nearly 40,000 weapons sent to the front. guest: that report came out in january and basically that deals with the obligation with sensitive equipment called enhanced monitoring designated

technology and there are various things that have to be done to ensure that is being tracked and inventoried. what we found is there had been significant improvements. remember following the full-scale invasion, everybody left the country and there was nobody to do it and it was a d of the obligation. as it came back there was improvement and there still work to be done in all aspects of that. we continue to do work on that and will continue to do work to help the department improved tracking so people know there is accountability for what is provided. host: is it possible some of the american weapons will end up on the black market? guest: this is designed on the front end. how are you doing the program and how can you do it better. on the back end, we have criminal investigators and to wo investigators and they

investigate criminal conduct the full range of the stuff we see in combat situations. my office has best experience in doing these investigations in combat situations. host: how typical is it that american weapons, especially the small ones that are easily moved around, that they can end up on the black market and being sold in criminal enterprises? guest: what i can say is history has shown whenever you have large amounts of stuff that goes in in a short period of time, that is why they do the oversight and we investigate on the back end. you have had instances in the past where items have been diverted or technology is have gone to other countries. we continue to investigate that. guest: if you like to ask a question of our guest robert storch, you can do so on the lines, democrats (202) 748-8000,

republicans (202) 748-8001, an independents (202) 748-8002. we have current and former members line set up and that is (202) 748-8003 and you can also text us at that number. you set up a website called ukraineoversight.gov. i will show it here. it is the scale and speed of the u.s. government over 174 billion response and oversight. can you give us an idea of what we can find if we go to this website? guest: thank you for mentioning it. i am proud of the folks who worked on it and our colleagues. we wanted to create one-stop shopping for people who are interested in the oversight over

u.s. security assistance to ukraine. it has all of our reports and all that have been done in the area. you can search and it is very interactive by design. you can search by topics and dates in my office. it has information about funding and about the nature of the operation in general. with the reporting that we do, we report not only on our oversight with the status overall. we do quarterly reports in our next one is due out next week and will be made available on thursday. you can get an update on assisting ukraine and our oversight. there is a link that will take you to individual hotlines for each of the offices. our partners at gal as well. host: there is also a dashboard

come oversight dashboard and i cannot bring it up right now but it does break out some of the different categories of funding that have been sent out. can you give us an idea of what the categories are and drill down on the top number two how it's being broken up? guest: at a broad level you have the security assistance. and then you've got nonsecurity assistance and humanitarian assistance. the security assistance was the most recent supplemental, well over 60% of the total, 100 74 billion -- $110 billion of assistance to ukraine and that breaks up into several different categories you have the presidential drawdown authority and that is already in stocks around the world and we draw on that to supply assistance. then they have the ukraine

security assistance initiative and that enables the department to buy new equipment provided to ukraine. and there is also a foreign military financing partner that enables the countries themselves to get money to buy. separate from that, you have the humanitarian assistance and direct budget support overseen by primarily our colleagues and other assistance provided to ukraine and to its police forces, oversight of corrections and that goes to the state department. host: you recently traveled to ukraine with the inspector general of usaid and state department. what did you learn? guest: it was the second time we have been there since the full-scale invasion. they were -- we were there in

january 2023 and then at the end of this january. one was to continue to convey the counterparts the importance of accountability and anarency. we met with very high level people, in my case the minister of defense and finance up to the prime minister and talked about the importance of that. they told us they understand that but as i also say, we continue to work on that. we wanted to deliver that strong message and we assigned a member of -- memo of understanding with ukrainian counterpart and reaffirmed our understanding and the special prosecutor's office and ministry of defense and others and that is about getting that information back and making sure we have everything we need. in some ways the most exciting part of those meetings is we went out to a number of sites and were actually able to see u.s. assistance in action.

we went to the hospital in a western suburb where there were great atrocities reported. it had been overrun by the russians. we talked to the doctors there during the russian occupation and how they continue to treat people during that and that is now being rebuilt. there was a lot of damage to that and other clinics. and it being rebuilt with the assistance of usa dollars. we went to a power plant and we saw a huge main generators and a bomb went in so deep they couldn't get it out and we are helping them rebuild. and perhaps even my dod we found interesting is we went to one of the sides where they transfer the weaponry for the enhanced

monitoring stuff, the most sensitive stuff, and i had the opportunity to speak to the dod people doing the tracking and the people from the ministry of defense and ukrainian special operations commander who was taking possession of the equipment and talked about how they maintain accountability. my teams are there continuing to do work in the area. host: i want to ask you, did your office review how the dod or the defense department executed that or lack thereof of the pullout from afghanistan? guest: we did a robust series of reviews over time related to afghanistan and did work related to different aspects of that. we did one big project and drew lessons from that and lessons learned. we believe those will assist the

department as we move forward. host: let's talk to a caller in temple, texas, democrat. caller: i was in vietnam and i was in supply and what i was doing is i was ordering ammunition and when we were in vietnam, they extolled like -- they stole. you can only do so much. you can only control what you are send to them and they will take it. you saying they won't take and that is wrong. we not only had supplies that were ammunition but they were

stealing and when you are not in america and in another country they do what you want to do. guest: thanks very much for the question and comment. one thing i want to be clear about, i'm not saying they are not going to take. what i am saying is we are doing robust oversight to make sure it dod is carrying out responsibilities as well as they can. they are carrying them out as much as they can to assure accountability. we are aggressively investigating any allegations of criminal conduct from procurement fraud or whatever it is including counter proliferation. i am not saying they won't take but what i am saying is we are doing everything possible on the front end and the back end to get a handle on that. it is a great point. every place is different and each brings its own challenges.

you are absolutely right, it presents a number of challenges and we rely upon the ukrainians to give us the information we need for that accountability. host: how much are you getting from the ukrainian government? are they participating with that? guest: with regard to we, the united states government, the reporting received has been improving. we continue to do work on that. they have instituted additional reporting requirements to try to ensure the dod is getting the information to do the tracking. in terms of my office being oversight over that, we are not the ones counting missiles but we are watching the way dod does it. we are getting the information to make sure that happens. host: brian, international falls, a republican. caller: i just want to thank the

government for a up for the freedom in ukraine and supporting them. when trump gets in hopefully we can turn the ship around. thank you. guest: i appreciate the comment. let me say one thing in this is all parties will find interest. the inspector general system is interesting. one thing that is critical is we are not partisan. i always tell my folks we can't be partisan. so much that we oversee at the department of defense and elsewhere is a partisan interest to folks. to be a credible and authoritative it is critical that we maintain that nonpartisan stance. it is up to the executive branch, congress. they are the ones who decide what happens. they are the ones who decide the policy and we do oversight to make sure that whatever those policies are they are being carried out properly and the

people doing them are doing them properly. i appreciate the comment but it gives me the opportunity to say that all oversight is completely nonpartisan. it is up to us to make sure everything that is decided is being done properly. host: a question from diane in moorestown, new jersey. i have seen stieof people in ukraine, shopkeepers claiming they are getting checks and pensions are being paid. is that coming from the united states government? guest: there is support being provided as part of the assistance and some does go to pensions and the like. there is oversight going on over that. i mentioned my colleagues at usa and we work with them and other members of the working group to make sure we are conducting oversight over all aspects. host: marvin is a former military in chattanooga, tennessee. caller: i would like to ask

almost a rhetorical bastion. how does the military justify for the congress justify supporting both elements of the conflict over in israel and palestine? how do you give moneys from the united states budget for a country that is said emphatically we are here to genocide only with these people and then turn around and give money to the people that they are expressing genocide against? from a military standpoint, can someone give me the rational for that nonsense? guest: i appreciate the question. i understand where it is coming from. what i would say that as an oversight it is important that my office that we stay out of those sort of debates because it is up to the political process to decide what assistance is provided to whom and when and

ones that is decided we do oversight to make sure it is being done as well as possible. i certainly understand the question but not within the ig role and inappropriate for me to go further. host: another asks when can the ig expect to complete a full and clean dod financial audit? guest: that is something that has been at the department for a long time. the dod has huge budget, at the discretionary spending of the u.s. it is three quarters of the assets held by the dod and we have done oversight over that and continue to do that. it is fair to say there has been progress in a number of areas but still a lot of work to do. one of the things we have highlighted are the outdated systems. these are huge complex and have financial systems doing reporting.

a lot don't talk to each other well and a lot are outdated. we did a report on the topic that's spun off that issue and made recommendations to address it that will be a key thing. there is work to do all over the place on that. i can't give you a date but what i can tell you is we have a lot of folks doing robust oversight over that will continue until get there and beyond. host: on the democrat line. caller: i would like you to thank you for the excellent job you do. as we know, ukraine was the most corrupt country in eastern europe before the war. they had exercised a lot of issues against minorities like the hungarians and even the russian population. now we are in the war, do you know the soldiers have to pay for their own ammunition when

they are being recruited and then they have to buy their own bullets and sometimes weapons. where is all the oversight of the billions we are giving when the new people who are being recruited have to pay for their own stuff? in addition to that, the aide being shipped there is being sold for a profit. so could you please look into that? guest: corruption has been a long-standing issue not just in ukraine but countries around the world. we work to help them address it. they have made progress, it is fair to say. when i was with the department of justice out of ukraine for a couple of years as a resident legal advisor hoping them to develop institutions to address

corruption and those are now operating in doing things. there is clearly still more work to do. we continue to work with them. we do trust and verified. we get information and we appreciate those good relationships but we have an independent responsibility to make sure we are getting information we need to do to do our independent oversight. host: donald kohn from fairborn, ohio, republican. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: go right ahead, donald. caller: i am a retiree and i suppose oversight involves some manners of protection and support representation besides the school matters.

i am not getting any support. i tried to go to a hospital i get abused. if i go to the police or any law enforcement, the complex i get retaliation. all this externalization besides indulging alien invasion. host: have you gone to get help from the v.a.? guest: that is the worst. they are dangerous and outright evil people amid that organization. and besides the nonprofit, supposed nonprofits, that is what i am saying. guest: thank you for calling in

and i appreciate the concerns. to pick up on what mimi said, i encourage you if you have concerns to report them so people can look into them. we try in the inspector general community to do a good job of getting all the information regarding what is going on so we can make sure we are getting at the problems and help the departments and agencies address them but we can't do that unless people come forward when they have problems so we can assess them. i don't know the specific nature of the problems you are suffering but i encourage you to stuff -- report them to the appropriate channels. let people look into it. maybe there is something to do and maybe there isn't what you want to have anyone make that decision unless you can forward. host: rick in tacoma, washington, independent. caller: i have a question that maybe you could answer your inspector general the defense

department. where do you rationalize giving all this money to a country that is very corrupt and who we started this back in 2014? we all know what happened victoria nuland and all the stuff and we know about the bio labs that we were controlling over there. host: just for listeners, can you clarify what you mean by what happened in 2014 in the u.s.? guest: everybody knows what it is. it has been all over the news. guest: thanks for the call. i guess what i would say is for us to do effective oversight, it's really critically important that we not get involved in

political issues regarding assistance, who should provide assistance, where it should go. those are issues for the executive branch or for the congress to decide. and so we stay out of that. if we were seen to take sides one way or another that would undermine the credibility of our work and the authoritative mess of it. people would think we had an ax to grind. i don't have anything regarding to whether there should or should not be assistance of any type to any country. that's for others to decide. my people's job, we work well with our partners is to make sure that whatever the government does decide to do it is being done properly so i appreciate the question. host: randall is in north dakota. democrat, good morning. caller: this is by far one of the most surreal interviews i've

seen in some time. host: we are having trouble hearing you. try again. caller: can you hear me now. host: yes that is better. caller: when i lived in charlston there was an airplane hangar that contained pallets of money -- pallets of money they would funnel to afghanistan and distribute to the tribal leaders , and whoever. there was 45 reportedly billions worth of dollars missing in all audits of afghanistan up to this point. frankly i'm sure was closer to several hundred billion. but now you've got the work you are doing with ukraine which a previous caller mentioned one of the most corrupt countries that

ever existed. when i hear the word attorney general that's one thing. when i hear the word attorney general of defense department. host: inspector general, randall. very different. is your point that there is no way that money is not being stolen and there's no way to track it and do proper oversight? caller: yeah. this whole interview is coming across -- i don't think the word robust you understand the word robust really means. host: we will get a response in. guest: i appreciate the comment and the concern. all i can tell you is i have more than 200 people at my office who are engaged in different aspects of ukraine oversight between the three ig's

who make up the court with our partners and between the three of us there or something like 400 people working on this, doing own -- investigations all sorts of support functions. we have more than 30 people for diplomacy in the region. people at the embassy in ukraine. we have 15 people working in country in addition to people in germany and elsewhere in the region so we are doing robust work in this area. it is challenging. we have a lot of experience doing this sort of oversight. so we are making sure we are getting after it. i appreciate the comment and concern and we will do everything we can to address it. host: marcia from florida, republican. caller: first off i agree with the last couple of callers, just the word robust oversight is so

unbelievable that that's your main go back to you keep going back to that. we don't believe it. we do not believe it. it is a corrupt place. i have a question for you. and if i can ask and you answer so i can ask the next one. how much money have we given to ukraine. guest: until this most recent supplemental it was 110 billion -- 113 excuse me. 174 .2 is what congress is authorizing. i totally respect your concerns and that's why i, on programs like this. i'm not looking for headlines but it's important the american public no there is oversight going on and it's my responsibility to leave that -- to lead that with my colleagues. if you have questions you can go to ukraine oversight.gov, we set

that up just to provide information to people like you who want to know what's being done in this area. i encourage you to go there and read our reports and if you have other thoughts of what we should be getting after contact our offices and let us know. host: bruce in kingston, new york. caller: good morning. i have a quick question with a little bit of different routing here. we have a history of buying $300 hammers and i'm wondering the oversight on the contracts themselves the generally come back to our own notes on the industries are being i. the chair will postpone >> we're going to leave this to hop nor our commitment to live coverage of congress.