Sen. Joni Ernst said internal Small Business Administration emails and meeting titles used the word “Benghazi” in discussions involving Paycheck Protection Program loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates, and she asked the Justice Department to investigate whether any federal records laws were violated. The allegation, first reported by The Daily Wire, comes amid a broader, long-running dispute over whether those affiliates were eligible for PPP aid and how the agency handled loan forgiveness.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, has asked the Department of Justice to review whether Small Business Administration (SBA) officials improperly concealed federal records while handling Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans tied to Planned Parenthood affiliates.
The allegation was first reported by The Daily Wire, which said Ernst’s request is based on internal SBA communications and calendars in which the term “Benghazi” appeared in subject lines and meeting titles connected to Planned Parenthood-related PPP decisions. The Daily Wire report described an email thread attributed to SBA General Counsel Peggy Hamilton beginning in April 2021 and a Microsoft Teams meeting title in June 2021 that used a similar “Benghazi” label.
In her request, Ernst argued that using such wording could make it harder to locate records through searches for terms such as “Planned Parenthood” and asserted that this could implicate federal recordkeeping requirements. The Daily Wire report said Ernst cited a criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2071, which generally addresses the willful concealment, removal, or destruction of federal records.
The controversy builds on a fight that began during the early months of the pandemic.
In May 2020, CBS News reported that 38 Planned Parenthood affiliates had received more than $80 million in PPP loans and that the SBA sent at least one affiliate a letter stating the agency had “preliminarily concluded” the clinic was ineligible under affiliation rules and size standards. Planned Parenthood argued at the time that its affiliate structure and separate governance made clinics eligible for the aid.
Republican lawmakers have repeatedly questioned whether those loans should have been issued or forgiven. In a Senate Small Business Committee oversight hearing transcript posted by Congress.gov, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the SBA had forgiven at least 37 PPP loans to Planned Parenthood and argued that more than $77.9 million was “illegally given and now forgiven” to Planned Parenthood affiliates. In the same hearing, committee chair Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said he disagreed with Paul’s characterization and maintained that the agency had provided transparency on loans and forgiveness.
The Daily Wire report also cited Paul as having challenged SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman about $17 million in funding that he said went out after the agency determined certain affiliates were ineligible. However, that specific figure and the quoted wording attributed to Paul were not located in the publicly posted Senate hearing transcript reviewed on Congress.gov.
Separately, in a January 2026 news release, the SBA said it opened a review of more than $88 million in PPP funds received by 38 Planned Parenthood Federation of America affiliates, describing nearly 40 letters demanding documentation to prove eligibility. The SBA statement said prior forgiveness decisions do not prevent the agency from reopening a review and said affiliates could face ineligibility determinations and potential civil or criminal referrals if certifications are found to be false.
Ernst’s request to DOJ adds a new dimension to the dispute by focusing not only on eligibility and forgiveness decisions, but also on recordkeeping practices inside the agency and any communications involving senior officials.
