News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Government watchdog Accountable.US released a new analysis, previewed by the New York Post, that identified a number of direct selling companies – which frequently engage in predatory multi-level marketing practices – that raked in over $106 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Several of these beneficiaries have been warned by the Federal Trade Commission […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Post is reporting that over 1,800 taxpayer-backed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans went to debt collectors and high-interest payday lenders — totaling more than $580 million. According to the analysis, “more than 170 of those recipients have been the subject of a multitude of complaints — each racking up at least 100 with the CFPB.” Among the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Late yesterday evening, Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA) released new guidance for the revamped Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Unfortunately, this new iteration of the PPP continues to neglect longstanding issues concerning minority-owned businesses, fraud, and loopholes allowing loans going to Trump allies. Read more. 

After months of thousands of small business closures while the wealthy and well-connected cashed in on billions in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, lawmakers finally reached an agreement on much-needed stimulus relief. As the bill’s final details trickle out, it is already clear that more assistance is necessary to help mom-and-pops across the country hang […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – An op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal from Trump Treasury officials Michael Faulkender and Stephen Miran that hails the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program as a “success” and calls for a clean reauthorization of the program is riddled with deceptive or downright false claims, an analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US found. Since its implementation, Accountable.US has documented how the Trump administration’s […]

Read the Report WASHINGTON, D.C. – An analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US — previewed in Daily Kos — found that at least 75 conservative organizations, including several that have vocally advocated against pandemic aid, took nearly $20 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) resources meant for struggling mom-and-pop businesses. At least 14 of these right-wing groups took money under a second […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Accountable.US released a new report cataloguing several wealthy musicians, celebrities, and influencers who received loans through the Trump Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) while mom-and-pop businesses lost out. The list documents wealthy actors and two musical acts featured on Taylor Swift’s newly released album Evermore who snapped up small business funds as hundreds […]

Following months of pressure and an eventual judge order, the full extent of who received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan from Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA) is finally available to the public. From Project Veritas and Larry Kudlow’s wife to Tom Brady and Jake Paul, the list of the wealthy and well-connected whom received […]

VIEW THE REPORT   WASHINGTON, D.C. – An analysis from government watchdog group Accountable.US shows that nearly 130,000 recipients of Paycheck Protection Program loans were self-employed individuals with no employees and making over $100,000 annually — but still received $20,833 in PPP funding, the maximum amount allowed by the legislation. This is the same loan program that all but […]

View Zoom Call Recording Here WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following last week’s mammoth, court-mandated data drop from the Trump Small Business Administration (SBA) of recipients of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under $150K, government watchdog Accountable.US hosted a press call with leading small business advocates to discuss how the program’s problems with inequity, lack of transparency, and […]

Analysis Finds 70% of All Oil, Gas, Mining Sector Corporations Awarded PPP Bailout  HELENA, MT – New analysis finds that the Trump Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flawed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been abused by fossil fuel and extractive corporations to rake in billions of dollars. In striking contrast, only 1,100 recipients in the wind and […]

View the Report WASHINGTON, D.C. – An analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US of last week’s major, court-mandated data drop of SBA Paycheck Protection Program loan recipients found that at least twenty-five organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center received approximately $4.8 million in forgivable PPP loans from the Trump administration, including vile white nationalist groups New […]

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe’s Spouse Co-founded Firm That Took Taxpayer-funded Loan When He Was Able to Vote on Bill WASHINGTON, D.C. — When he was a member of Congress, current Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe’s spouse’s law firm accepted a six-figure government loan authorized by the CARES Act, according to a story published today in […]

Following months of pressure and an eventual judge order, the full extent of who received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan from Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA) is finally available to the public. From Project Veritas and Larry Kudlow’s wife to Tom Brady and Jake Paul, the list of the wealthy and well-connected whom received […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – New reporting by the Kansas City Star reveals that a $9 million taxpayer-backed Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) loan went to a Kansas-based trash collection company that reports having just three drivers and was recently controlled by a convicted tax felon. Warren L.C. — whose management was transferred from Thomas Fritzel to his wife sometime after May […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – An enormous new tranche of data released this week by the Small Business Administration (SBA) of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan details revealed that Immanuel Christian School — a religious, loudly anti-LGBTQ school with ties to the Second Lady — received a hefty $725,000 loan. The school, where Karen Pence took a part-time art teaching job last year, […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, following months of obfuscation, delays, and a lost legal battle, Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA) finally released information last night on recipients of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans up to $150,000. While the program was billed as a much-needed relief program for mom-and-pop businesses struggling to weather the tough economic conditions brought on […]

After Court-Ordered Release of Previously Undisclosed Data on PPP Loans Below $150,000, Accountable.US Continues Campaign Targeting Waste, Fraud, And Abuse in Program WASHINGTON, D.C. – After months of dodging and delaying, the Small Business Administration (SBA) was forced today to release its remaining data on businesses and individuals that received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, after weeks of stagnancy and delays, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a framework to spend $900 billion to address the worsening health and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the components of the new framework is $300 billion in funding to renew the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Read […]

Last week, reporting showed that Wellshire Financial Services, part of a multi-state title loan business run by major Trump donor Rod Aycox, received a $25 million low-interest loan from the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program (MSLP). On a note of stunning hypocrisy, Wellshire’s five-year MSLP loan came with a 3.15 percent interest rate — […]