A group of Republican Maine state senators on Monday sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting an investigation into the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) and its Office of State Procurement Services (OSPS) following the release of a devastating audit.

The letter, signed by 14 Republican senators, including Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) and Assistant Republican Leader Matthew Harrington (R-York), cites the “grave findings” of the 2024 Single Audit Report published by State Auditor Matthew Dunlap last Friday.

“This report reveals systemic failures in oversight, apparent violations of federal and state procurement laws, and a pervasive disregard for internal controls—jeopardizing billions in taxpayer funds, including significant federal dollars,” the senators’ letter reads.

“We believe these issues demand urgent federal scrutiny, potentially including criminal investigation,” the senators wrote.

The GOP senators pointed to the “material weakness” identified in OSPS’s internal controls over procurement in Dunlap’s audit, that revealed $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2024 contract spending was under a system the audit describes as lacking basic supervisory oversight and controls​.

Among the key violations outlined in the audit and specified by the senators include:

• Unjustified sole-source or non-competitive contracts: Of 31 sole-source contracts reviewed, 16 lacked required documentation proving a “reasonable investigation” into alternatives, violating competitive bidding mandates under Maine law;
• Unauthorized Work: In 24 of 45 contracts and 18 of 31 Procurement Justification Forms, approvals were signed after work had already begun, with delays ranging from 3 to 187 days, creating legal and financial risks;
• No Cost Analysis: None of the 45 procurement actions tested showed evidence of cost analysis, flouting OSPS’s statutory duty to secure the best value for taxpayers;
• Evasion of Competitive Bidding: Agencies exploited Low-Cost Service Contracts (LCSCs) by “stacking” multiple contracts under the $5,000 threshold—for example, one agency issued seven concurrent LCSCs to a single vendor—circumventing state policy;
• Poor Vendor Oversight: None of the 14 contract amendments reviewed included vendor performance documentation, risking payments for substandard work;
• Federal Noncompliance: Five of 23 federal contracts omitted required award information, and two of eight IT contracts bypassed mandatory Office of Information Technology review.

“These are not mere oversights but a pattern of negligence—or worse—spanning a procurement system handling $2.1 billion annually,” the senators wrote.

In justifying their request for federal investigation, the Maine Republican senators claimed the findings of the audit suggest misuse or mismanagement of federal funds, fraudulent procurement practices, failure to enforce federal procurement standard and “possible abuse of authority or cronyism.”

“With DAFS and OSPS overseeing contracts across all state agencies—including law enforcement—state-level accountability is compromised, necessitating federal intervention,” they wrote.

The group of Republican state senators urged the U.S. Department of Justice to review the 2024 Single Audit Report, launch an immediate investigation into DAFS, OSPS and other implicated parties, seek recovery of any misspent federal funds and to “assess whether criminal charges are warranted under federal procurement or anti-fraud statutes.”

“Maine citizens and American taxpayers deserve assurance that public funds are managed lawfully and competitively,” the senators wrote to Attorney General Bondi.

“The audit shatters that trust, exposing vulnerabilities that only federal action can address,” they wrote.

Read the full letter from the Maine Republican State Senators to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi below: