In our latest undercover investigation, we exposed an apparent covert effort inside the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) the non-partisan watchdog Congress created to keep the federal government honest and efficient — to sabotage the Trump administration’s overhaul of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Steven Putansu, a 16-year veteran and current Assistant Director at the GAO, was recorded on hidden camera openly admitting that his colleagues “stole and backed up” vaccine research data that the Department of Health and Human Services, now led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had allegedly deleted. The stated goal: keep the data “outside his control” so it can be restored “someday” when the political winds shift.
The admission raises explosive questions about potential violations of multiple federal criminal statutes, including theft of government property, unauthorized removal of public records, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Steven Putansu, a 16-year veteran of the GAO who also lectures at American University and whose work has contributed to savings of more than $260 billion for taxpayers, began the conversation by proudly describing his agency’s mission.
He portrayed the GAO as the gold standard of government oversight, telling our undercover journalist,
“We do the research to see what works and what doesn’t… We make recommendations… they usually are [implemented] because the recs are backed by good evidence.”
He then went on to mock the Trump-Musk Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), saying it was only “what DOGE pretended they were doing” and dismissing its efforts as superficial cost-cutting “without the research.”
But the conversation quickly turned dark when the topic shifted to RFK Jr.
“I’d watch out for the vaccine-denying head of HHS who’s going to ruin health care in this country even more than it already is,” Putansu warned.
When asked if anyone inside the government was pushing back, he replied, “We are in some places.”
He then delivered the stunning confession:
“The administration has gone through and they’ve destroyed statistical agencies and data sources… And we have stolen and backed those things up so that someday they can come back to government.”
Pressed on how that was possible, Putansu explained, “Because we had access to them, so we could just keep a copy, you know?”
He added that the covert backups “limit the amount of permanent damage” because “research on vaccines and things that he’s basically trying to just delete are stored outside of his [RFK Jr.] control.”
“We’re [GAO] limiting the damage,” he repeated.
O’Keefe Media Group consulted Will Chamberlain, Senior Counsel at the Article III Project, who identified three federal statutes that appear to have been violated by the admitted conduct:
• 18 U.S.C. § 2071 – Willful concealment, removal, or mutilation of public records
• 18 U.S.C. § 641 – Theft or conversion of government property (federal data qualifies as government property)
• 18 U.S.C. § 1030 – Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (exceeding authorized access or copying protected government data without permission)
Putansu also claimed the Trump administration had already broken laws and that the GAO was documenting violations to force compliance through the courts. He acknowledged the agency itself had been threatened with a 50% budget cut for its aggressive stance on impoundment issues.
Despite the pressure, he insisted the GAO remained defiant:
“They want us all to be afraid… but inside the agency we all are pretty firm.”
The Government Accountability Office, created more than a century ago to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, now stands accused of orchestrating an underground effort to preserve data that an elected administration and its confirmed HHS secretary want removed, all while admitting to “stealing” it.
Following the release of our investigation, a GAO spokesperson issued a statement to O’Keefe Media Group:
“Regarding your inquiry, GAO collects & retains data for requested audits & engagements in accordance with GAO’s statutes & agency protocols. GAO is committed to meeting the highest level of independence, nonpartisanship, & professional standards while conducting audits, evaluations, & investigations & we take seriously any suggestion otherwise.”
Even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. weighed in, commenting directly beneath James O’Keefe’s X post about the latest exposé. [RFK Jr.] wrote: “We don’t delete data. Not sure what he’s talking about.”
U.S. GAO also confirmed Steven Putansu’s employment as an Assistant Director with the agency.
If you work inside any government agency, federal, state, or local, and you’re witnessing corruption or efforts to undermine the will of the American people, we want to hear from you.
Contact us securely at [email protected] or text 914-491-9395. An OMG journalist will respond.
Stay vigilant.
