'Who benefited?': Blue state lawmaker demands FBI investigate bullet train 'boondoggle'

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Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., is asking the FBI to look into California's high-speed rail project, which is already facing a compliance audit from the Department of Transportation.

Kiley says no rail has been constructed since the project kicked off 17 years ago, and the projection that it could cost $100 billion above previous estimates raises red flags.

"This malfeasance leads to questions that transcend mere incompetence. How is it possible to have spent over $13 billion without a single station opening? Where have these funds gone? Who benefited?" Kiley wrote Tuesday in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel.

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"How is it possible to have spent over $13 billion without a single station opening?" Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., wrote Tuesday in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel. (Scott Strazzante-Pool/Getty Images)

"Because the project has consumed billions in federal funding, the FBI has both the authority, and I would argue the responsibility, to pursue these questions and deliver answers to the American people. The Public Integrity Division is uniquely qualified to root out any corruption, recover stolen funds, and restore confidence that our tax dollars are being stewarded carefully."

The FBI declined to comment on the request. 

"We welcome this investigation & look forward to working with federal partners. CA High-Speed Rail has been audited over 100x, every dollar is accounted for & progress is real - 50 structures built, 14,600 jobs created & 171 miles under construction," the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) posted to X in response. 

"Full speed ahead!" 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited Los Angeles last month to rail against the bullet train efforts after it received billions in federal taxpayer funding.

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California leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom are backing high-speed rail construction, which is leading to frustration about spending and construction practices. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images | Daila Pena)

"For too long, taxpayers have subsidized the massively over-budget and delayed California High-Speed Rail project," Duffy said in a statement at the time.

"President Trump is right that this project is in dire need of an investigation. That is why I am directing my staff to review and determine whether the CHSRA has followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding. If not, I will have to consider whether that money could be given to deserving infrastructure projects elsewhere in the United States."

CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS URGE FEDS TO APPROVE HIGH-SPEED RAIL FUNDING BEFORE DOGE NIXES ‘BOONDOGGLE’

Kash Patel is sworn in as FBI director by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

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Although the rail has not been built, other construction projects related to it have caused issues for some California residents, including one in Madera County, where an overpass is being built so close to a house that a survey obtained by Fox News Digital labeled it encroachment.