section_path: Concerns and criticism/Office of Inspector General investigation into alleged terror-linked funding
section_name: Office of Inspector General investigation into alleged terror-linked funding
paragraph_text: Office of Inspector General investigation into alleged terror-linked funding
  
  According to a February 2024 report, the USAID's Office of Inspector General launched an investigation in 2023 into the agency for awarding $110,000 in 2021 to Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD), a charity in Michigan that Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have accused in recent years of sharing ties to terrorism organizations in South Asia. In August 2023, USAID's Vetting Support Unit cleared HHRD to receive the grant. In 2024, researchers at George Mason University reported that allegations against HHRD were part of a campaign targeting large American Muslim charities based on the manipulation of poorly-sourced information.
  
  According to a February 2024 report, the USAID's Office of Inspector General launched an investigation in 2023 into the agency for awarding $110,000 in 2021 to Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD), a charity in Michigan that Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have accused in recent years of sharing ties to terrorism organizations in South Asia. In August 2023, USAID's Vetting Support Unit cleared HHRD to receive the grant. In 2024, researchers at George Mason University reported that allegations against HHRD were part of a campaign targeting large American Muslim charities based on the manipulation of poorly-sourced information.