In response to the revelation yesterday that the Los Angeles Lakers were able to secure a PPP small business loan, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on CNBC that there will be an audit of every loan made over $2 million:

After criticizing the Lakers for taking a loan designed to help small businesses, Mnuchin says there will be audits of every one over $2 mil. "The SBA will be doing a full review of that loan before there is forgiveness" to "make sure the intent for taxpayers is fulfilled here.” — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 28, 2020

And he reminded companies that took taxpayer money of their potential criminal liablity if the certification of economic need was not true:

Secty Mnuchin on @CNBC on PPP loans to big companies: "It's the borrowers who have criminal liability if they made this certification (of economic need) and it's not true…We're going to do a full audit of every loan over $2m. This was a program designed for small businesses." — Steve Liesman (@steveliesman) April 28, 2020

This is welcome news and 100% spot on:

"The purpose of this program was not social welfare for big business," says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "This was meant for small businesses that didn't have liquidity." pic.twitter.com/17LbhcPewv — Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 28, 2020

Some companies have already returned their funds:

.@stevenmnuchin1 sez on @CNBC that @USTreasury will review/audit any #PPPLoan above $2 million. A big criticism of the Paycheck Protection Program has been that large biz/organizations such as @shakeshack, @RuthsChris & @Lakers got loans. All 3 are returning the money. — Ledyard King (@LedgeKing) April 28, 2020

Mnuchin blamed the borrowers, not the banks for the loans:

“I blame the borrowers,” Mnuchin tells @SquawkCNBC , when asked who is responsible for big companies getting PPP loans. He said “the rules were clear.” Companies and the LA Lakers say the opposite. pic.twitter.com/Nths4szPim — Robert Frank (@robtfrank) April 28, 2020

In what world did someone at the Lakers think they could take a taxpayer bailout?

"I never expected in a million years that the @Lakers–which I'm a big fan of the team–but I'm not a big fan of the fact that they took a $4.6M loan. I think that's outrageous, and I'm glad they returned it or they would have had liability," says @stevenmnuchin1 pic.twitter.com/igJBmFVKcB — Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 28, 2020

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