‘That’s a Hell of an Accounting Error!’ CNN’s Jake Tapper Grills NSA Jake Sullivan on Pentagon’s ‘Bizarre’ Discovery of $3 Billion in Extra Cash

Jake Tapper expressed great skepticism about a $3 billion “accounting error” which the Pentagon discovered this week.

In an interview with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Sunday on CNN, Tapper labeled it “very bizarre” that the Pentagon overvalued the equipment it has sent to Ukraine by $3 billion — money which it now says it can now use for further aid.

“There was this very bizarre admission from the Pentagon this week of an accounting error that suggested that the U.S. has at least $3 billion that it didn’t know it had that it can use for Ukraine aid,” Tapper said. “That’s a hell of an accounting error! And it provides a lot of fodder to critics of U.S. aid to Ukraine, and critics who say there’s not enough oversight going on. Are you concerned about this accounting error?”

“That is not money that went out the door and disappeared,” Sullivan replied. “That is not a waste of that $3 billion. It is simply a tally of how much military equipment we have given them. And the way that the Pentagon was counting it was what’s the replacement cost for the equipment we provide rather than just the actual cost of that equipment. Once you make that adjustment, it turns out we have an additional $3 billion that we can spend to provide even more weapons to Ukraine.”

Sullivan went on to make a statement that will surely come under scrutiny — given that the U.S. has, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, committed more than $77 billion in support of Ukraine.

“At the end of the day, not one penny of U.S. Dollars will have gone missing, or have been misallocated,” Sullivan said. “It will all be provided in the form of equipment to Ukraine on the battlefield. But of course, it would be better to get it right in terms of the accounting up front. In the end, though, the Pentagon discovered the error. The Pentagon corrected the error. And Ukraine will get what it needs. And the American taxpayer will be able to be confident that this money is being spent effectively and appropriately.”

Watch above, via CNN.