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Musk: This is what we’re dealing with everywhere in government: Jon Stewart Interviews [former] U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks
CSPAN via X ^ | Elon Musk / Jon Stewart

Posted on 02/09/2025 11:02:02 AM PST by AndyJackson

Video of interview

Transcript

here is a sample

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (40:43):

Audits and waste, fraud and abuse are not the same thing. So let’s decompose these pieces for a moment.

Jon Stewart (40:49):

Then please educate me on what the difference is.

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (40:50):

Sure. So an audit is exactly what you just described.

Jon Stewart (40:52):

Yes.

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (40:52):

Which is do I know what was delivered to which place?

Jon Stewart (40:55):

Right.

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (40:56):

The ability to pass an audit or the fact that the DOD has not passed on audit is not suggestive of waste, fraud and abuse. That is completely false right there.

Jon Stewart (41:05):

So what is it suggestive of?

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (41:08):

It’s suggestive that we don’t have an accurate inventory that we can pull up of what we have where. That is not the same as saying we can’t do that because waste, fraud and abuse has occurred.

Jon Stewart (41:21):

So in my world that’s waste.

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (41:26):

How is that waste?

Jon Stewart (41:27):

If I give you a billion dollars and you can’t tell me what happened to it? That to me is wasteful. That means you are not responsible. But if you can’t tell me where it went, then what am I supposed to think? And when there has been reporting, I’m not saying this is on you and that you caused this, but I think it’s a tough argument to make that-

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (41:51):

I’m pretty sure I didn’t cause it.

Jon Stewart (41:53):

… an $850 billion budget to an organization that can’t pass an audit and tell you where that money went. I think most people would consider that somewhere in the realm of waste, fraud or abuse because they would wonder why that money isn’t well accounted for. And especially when they see food insecurity on military bases-

Dr. Kathleen Hicks (42:23):

You want to talk about that? I’m trying to understand where you’re trying to go, other than the dollars which really bother you.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: abuse; accountability; audit; doge; fraud; girlboss; jonstewart; kathleenhicks; unaccountability; video; waste
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1 posted on 02/09/2025 11:02:02 AM PST by AndyJackson
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To: AndyJackson

CAN WE ALL SAY “AIRHEAD” CHILDREN???


2 posted on 02/09/2025 11:04:14 AM PST by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: AndyJackson

Intentional. Like listening to Mayorkas dance and never answer a question or change the subject. They know what’s up and it’s their termination. Perhaps, even better, legal pursuit of criminal activity, or at a minimum a denial of their pension benefits. Let the howling begin and to hell with them, all. What a disgrace. Absolutely no shame but instead pure arrogance.


3 posted on 02/09/2025 11:09:07 AM PST by john drake (Lucius Accius-Roman,170 BC - "oderint dum metuant" translated "Let them hate so long as they fear")
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To: AndyJackson

I used to be a night auditor at a hotel. This woman is full of it. Or an idiot. Possibly both.


4 posted on 02/09/2025 11:15:19 AM PST by Fai Mao (The US government is run by pedophiles and Perverts for pedophiles and perverts.)
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To: AndyJackson

Hard to know if she’s thoroughly dishonest about “not understanding the problem” or if she’s stupid. My money is on both.


5 posted on 02/09/2025 11:15:56 AM PST by ClearCase_guy
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To: AndyJackson

wow jon stewart - worth watching even if you dislike Jon he very calmly and politely destroys this bitch. Man she looks stupid and corrupt.


6 posted on 02/09/2025 11:20:43 AM PST by datricker (Go Trump/Vance!)
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To: AndyJackson
This woman is a pretty good representation of your average female bureaucrat. Unfortunately, the Hildebeast has influenced a generation or two of women.
7 posted on 02/09/2025 11:23:05 AM PST by Major Matt Mason (Everyone that voted Trump/R in '24 needs to show up in '26.)
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To: AndyJackson

“other than the dollars which really bother you”

Implying that it’s wrong to be concerned.

Breathtaking. Hicks is even worse then I thought she was.


8 posted on 02/09/2025 11:27:44 AM PST by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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To: AndyJackson

This is the kind of tone deaf bureaucrat that the SES (Senior Executive Service) protects.

Unelected department supervisors, answerable to no one, with primary missions to protect the institutions and systems, and to keep the perpetual benefits flowing... lasting to the grave.

All funded on the backs of U S taxpayers.


9 posted on 02/09/2025 11:30:06 AM PST by freepersup (“Those who conceal crimes are preparing to commit new ones.” ~Vuk Draskovic~)
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To: AndyJackson
"I’m trying to understand where you’re trying to go, other than the dollars which really bother you."

Does anybody else get that "my head might explode" reaction to this comment?

This woman seems to lack understanding of what connects "audit" to "waste, fraud, and corruption" and "audit" to "dollars".

I suggest electro-shock therapy until such understanding develops.

10 posted on 02/09/2025 11:33:53 AM PST by William Tell
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To: AndyJackson
Try telling an employer, "I don't know where the money went."

Then remind yourself that we are this lady's employer.

11 posted on 02/09/2025 11:35:42 AM PST by Joe 6-pack
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To: Regulator

bttt


12 posted on 02/09/2025 11:39:45 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: AndyJackson

She sounds like, “What is it with you and money? Why is money so important to you?”


13 posted on 02/09/2025 11:53:29 AM PST by servo1969
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To: AndyJackson
FTR: this clip is from an extended conversation Stewert had with Deputy Defense Sec. Kathleen Hicks in April 2023.

The extended conversation is Here

14 posted on 02/09/2025 11:57:09 AM PST by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: AndyJackson

She isn’t smart but neither is he.


15 posted on 02/09/2025 11:57:55 AM PST by Sequoyah101 (Donald John Trump. First man to be Elected to the Presidency THREE times since FDR.)
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To: William Tell

Yes, I could only take a little of it but she knows exactly what she is doing. Some say Stewart eventually handled her but not in the time I watched.


16 posted on 02/09/2025 12:00:45 PM PST by Sequoyah101 (Donald John Trump. First man to be Elected to the Presidency THREE times since FDR.)
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To: AndyJackson

Well she does have a point sort of. I don’t think most people understand what a defense audit actually is. Not passing one (getting qualified audit) does not mean that money or equipment was stolen or misused, it just means that there is not a proper paper trail for that money or more frequently, assets. This can happen many ways and usually is improper record keeping. You need to remember that these audits are usually only of capitalized assets (over $100,000) and there are many rules for depreciation and modification and valuing government furnished equipment etc. that are often misunderstood by the people who are valuing these assets. You can fail an audit not only because you come up short in quantities or funds but you can fail because you actually have more of something than the records show you should have. It’s very complicated and there are many ways to fail an audit, without something sinister going on. Many entities in the military are focused on mission, not audit readiness. That is not a good excuse but it is reality.


17 posted on 02/09/2025 12:02:18 PM PST by XRdsRev (Justice for Bernell Trammell, black Trump supporter, executed in the street in broad daylight 2020.a)
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To: AndyJackson

DO NOT BELIEVE YOU LIYING EYES
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.

Audits and waste, fraud and abuse are not the same thing.


18 posted on 02/09/2025 12:07:58 PM PST by Vaduz
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To: AndyJackson

Stewart wipes the floor with her.


19 posted on 02/09/2025 12:15:51 PM PST by nwrep
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To: XRdsRev

📌


20 posted on 02/09/2025 12:57:49 PM PST by griswold3 (Truth Beauty and Goodness)
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