“No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.” ~ Article I, Section 9, Clause 7, U.S. Constitution

September 2017 Report

Solari Report: Interview with Dr. Mark Skidmore, Thursday, September 28, 2017

Summary Report on “Unsupported Journal Voucher Adjustments” in the Financial Statements of the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Defense and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Dr. Mark Skidmore
Mark is professor of economics and agricultural, food, and resource economics at Michigan State University, where he holds the Morris Chair in State and Local Government Finance and Policy. He received his doctorate in economics from the University of Colorado in 1994, and his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Washington in 1987. Mark is Co-editor of the Journal of Urban Affairs.

Catherine Austin Fitts
Catherine is the president of Solari, Inc., publisher of The Solari Report, and managing member of Solari Investment Advisory Services, LLC. She served as managing director and member of the board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co., Inc., as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first Bush Administration, and was the president of Hamilton Securities Group, Inc. Her experience on Wall Street and Washington is described in her book Dillon Read & Co. Inc. & the Aristocracy of Stock Profits. Catherine graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Wharton School (MBA).

Update—October 5, 2017

On October 5, 2017, we discovered that the link to the report “Army General Fund Adjustments Not Adequately Documented or Supported” had been disabled. Within several days, the links to other Office of Inspector General (OIG) documents we had identified in our search were also disabled. The sequential and non-random nature of this disabling process suggests a purposeful decision on the part of OIG to make key documents unavailable to the public via the website (as opposed to website reorganization or some other explanation). We revisited the website intermittently to see whether the documents had been reposted under different URLs; until very recently, they had not been reposted.

Update—December 11, 2017

On December 11, 2017, we learned that key documents had been reposted on the OIG website, but with different URLs. Documents now appear to be reposted on new URLs. As we find the new URLs, we are adding them in the footnotes entitled “new link” next to the original link.

Update—December 12, 2017

Subsequent to the publication of Dr. Skidmore’s report, the OIG at the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took reports offline; consequently, our primary links in the table below are to the same documents posted on our website. We have preserved the original DOD and HUD links in the footnotes—if they result in a 404 error or "not found" message, this indicates they were taken down or moved subsequent to publication.

Update—June 6, 2018

Update on the $21 Trillion in Unsupported Adjustments at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Defense.

Update—September 18, 2018

Early this year, the Pentagon announced that it was conducting its first-ever independent audit. However, several months after beginning the audit, the government accepted the recommendations of the Federal Accounting Standards Board: https://fas.org/sgp/news/2018/07/fasab-review.pdf (see page 3 for a summary). The statement allows government officials to misstate and move funds around to hide expenditures if it is deemed necessary for national security purposes, and the rule applies to all agencies, not just the black budget. Here is an excerpt from the report:

This Statement permits modifications that do not affect net results of operations or net position. In addition, this Statement allows a component reporting entity to be excluded from one reporting entity and consolidated into another reporting entity, and the effect of the modification may change the net results of operations and/or net position.

From this statement, it seems that only a few people with high-level security clearances have the authority to determine what is a national security issue, and these same people will now be allowed to restate financial reports to hide activity. No one but those few people would ever know that expenditures on "activity A" are hidden in a completely different area of government. What good is an independent audit if authorities are allowed to move expenditures around with no transparency? How can one conduct an evaluation of any portion of the federal budget under such an arrangement? How is this policy in compliance with financial reporting laws or Constitutional requirements for reporting on government spending to the citizens of the United States?

Update—December 12, 2018

On October 4, 2018, federal government officials accepted the recommendation of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) that the government be allowed to misstate and move funds in order to hide expenditures if it is deemed necessary for national security purposes. The new guidelines apply to all agencies, not just the black budget. See page 3 of the July 2018 FASAB report for a summary of the proposed recommendations and see here for more detail. See here for the final statement: Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 56.

With the change in accounting guidelines, which is a full departure from Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), only a few people with high-level security clearances have the authority to determine what is deemed a national security issue, and these same people will now be allowed to restate financial reports in order to conceal actual expenditures without any disclosure. No one but those few people would know that such modifications were made, thus making evaluation of government financial statements impossible. From this point forward, the federal government will keep two sets of books—one modified book for the public and one true book that is hidden.

The FASAB recommendation effectively institutionalizes non-transparency in federal financial reporting. While many aspects of federal finances are already non-transparent because government has failed to comply with existing financial reporting laws, at least citizens had the laws working in their favor. Now, citizens have no recourse; non-transparency is going to proceed as a matter of executive branch authority and policy.

Accounting rules are often thought of as boring and of secondary importance. However, this particular change has enormous implications, and yet few citizens are aware of it. People should know about these changes so that they have an opportunity to voice their concerns and reverse the decision.

Update—February 8, 2019

Dr. Skidmore prepared a new report on the U.S. Federal debt with Catherine’s input—it includes updates and new information subsequent to the 2018 updates to the original report and so is linked here: Should We Care about Secrecy in Financial Reporting?

Supporting DOD and HUD Documentation

Year	DOD	Government Source Document
2018	Unspecified	See Here
2017	Unspecified	See All Pages (#s 100% Redacted)
2016	Unspecified	See Page #78^[39]
2015	Unspecified	See Page #83^[37], See Page #59, 78^[38]
2014	Unspecified	See Page #59, 79^[2]
2013	Unspecified	See Page #81, #101^[3]
2012	Unspecified	See Page #84, #104^[4]
2011	Unspecified	See Page #73^[5]
2010	Unspecified	See Page #8, #9^[6]
2009	Unspecified	See Page #28^[7]
2008	Unspecified	See Page #49^[8]
2007	Unspecified	See Page #46^[9]
2006	Unspecified	See Page #178^[10]
2005	Unspecified	See Page #18, #50, #296^[11]
2004	Unspecified	See Page #19^[12]
2003	Unspecified	See Page #2^[13]
2002	Unspecified	See Page #2^[14]
2001	Unspecified	See Page #2^[15]
2000	$1.1 trillion (includes $320.8 billion from Air Force)	See Page #1^[16] See Page #147^[36]
1999	$2.3 trillion	See Page #9^[17]
1998	$1.7 trillion	See Page #5^[18]

Year	DOD Army	Government Source Document
2015	$6.5 trillion	See Page #1^[24]
2014
2013
2012	$110.9 billion	See Page #91^[25]
2011	$14.6 billion	See Page #100^[26]
2010	$874.8 billion	See Page #4^[40]
2009	$311.3 billion	See Page #88^[28]
2008	$595.8 billion	See Page #91^[29]
2007	$1.1 trillion	See Page #5^[41]
2006	$270.1 billion	See Page #107^[30]
2005	$248.5 billion	See Page #140, #141^[11]
2004	$258.1 billion	See Page #125^[32]
2003	$268.3 billion	See Page #191^[33]
2002	$500.1 billion	See Page #232^[34]
2001
2000	$361.5 billion	See Page #168^[35]
1999
1998

Year	DOD Navy	Government Source Document
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000	$161.6 billion	See Page #4^[42]
1999
1998	$880 billion	See Page #1^[43]

Year	DOD Air Force	Government Source Document
2015	$90.2 billion	See Page #8^[44]
2014
2013
2012	$1.6 trillion	See Page #4^[44]
2011
2010
2009	$1.4 trillion	See Page #8^[45]
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003	Unspecified	See Page #41^[46]
2002	Unspecified	See Page #150^[47]
2001	Unspecified	See Page #70^[48]
2000	$320 billion	See Page #147^[36]
1999
1998

Year	HUD	Government Source Document
2015	$278.5 billion	See Page #4^[19]
2014	$1.9 billion	See Page #5^[20]
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999	$59.6 billion	See Page #4^[22]
1998	$17.6 billion	See Page #4^[22]

Related Reading:

FOIA Request

FOIA Request

Response to FOIA Request

Original Sources:

Note: On October 5, 2017, we discovered that the link to the report “Army General Fund Adjustments Not Adequately Documented or Supported” had been disabled. Within several days, the links to other OIG documents we had identified in our search were also disabled. The sequential and non-random nature of this disabling process suggests a purposeful decision on the part of OIG to make key documents unavailable to the public via the website (as opposed to website reorganization or some other explanation). We revisited the website intermittently to see whether the documents had been reposted under different URLs; until very recently, they had not been reposted. On December 11, 2017, we learned that the key documents had been reposted on the OIG website, but with different URLs. Documents now appear to be reposted on new URLS. As we find the new URLS, we are adding them in the footnotes below.

^{Old Link: 1. 2015 Semiannual Report to Congress, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 2. 2014 Agency Financial Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 3. 2013 Agency Financial Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 4. 2012 Agency Financial Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 5. 2011 Agency Financial Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 6. 2010 Testimony of the Deputy Inspector General, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 7. 2009 Agency Financial Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 8. 2008 Agency Financial Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 9. 2007 Agency Financial Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 10. 2006 Performance and Accountability Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 11. 2005 Performance and Accountability Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}

^{Old Link: 12. 2004 Performance and Accountability Report, DOD Click here for (New Link)}