Radio Free Asia auctions taxpayer-funded equipment for pennies online

A nonprofit news organization funded entirely by the US government has begun selling off much of its equipment on a public auction site; many items were sold for pennies on the dollar.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) receives approximately $60 million a year from American taxpayers to produce news in Asia. The organization said it suspended its operations because funding was cut during the government shutdown.

But as the website was shutting down, Fox News discovered that RFA had quietly begun selling off much of its expensive broadcast equipment, including HD cameras, teleprompters, lenses and even office refrigerators.

Listings on Rasmus Auctions, a public auction site, show RFA-branded broadcast equipment being offered at rush sale prices.

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Some high-definition cameras sell for less than a dollar, teleprompters sell for ninety cents, professional lenses sell for under a dollar, and a refrigerator sells for only twenty cents.

A total of more than a thousand pieces of equipment were offered for sale, sparking outrage.

California Congressman Darrell Issa, who is working to restore funding for RFA, called the online auction a betrayal of American taxpayers.

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Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., attends the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“I have never seen such aggression from an organization that receives 100 percent of its money from the US government,” Issa said. “Lenses for which you would pay thousands of dollars are sold for pennies. It is clear that they are liquidating assets out of spite.”

When reached for comment, a spokesman for Radio Free Asia said the Trump administration was responsible for previous budget cuts.

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RFA sells HD cameras for 10 cents. (Rasmus Auctions)

They also noted the closure because it forced the organization to make difficult financial choices.

“Management’s illegal termination and disruption of RFA’s timely funding, followed by a prolonged government shutdown, forced the company to greatly reduce operational costs to achieve long-term success,” the statement said.

“Disposing of equipment we can no longer use while protecting key personnel and assets positions RFA responsibly to maintain editorial operations that hold the Communist Party of China and other authoritarian governments accountable,” RFA said.

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A refrigerator was being auctioned for 10 cents at Rasmus Auction. (Rasmus Auctions)

“Our plan moving forward is to rebuild after Congress and the Administration resolve our funding issues,” the statement said. The statement was included.

But Kari Lake, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees RFA, immediately disputed those claims.

“Not everything they said was true,” Lake responded.

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Kari Lake promised to get to the bottom of what’s going on at RFA.

“We’re funding them. We’ve given them every penny they’ve been allocated. Eighty cents for an HD camera? That’s a slap in the face to the taxpayers,” Lake said.

“The madness is now over. Be prepared to open your doors next week for our team of auditors to find out what’s going on at RFA, as allowed under the grant agreement and applicable regulations,” Lake wrote in a letter to RFA on Thursday.

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In other comments to Fox News, RFA said it hopes to restart news operations if Congress restores its funding and that it is well equipped to continue operating if Congress decides to fund it going forward.