Bush official claims U.S. built secret $21T underground 'city' for rich and powerful to live if 'near-extinction event' happens | 5 May 2025 | The federal government has secretly spent trillions building an elaborate network of subterranean "cities" where the rich and powerful can shelter during a "near-extinction event," a former Bush White House official sensationally claimed. About 170 such bunkers have been built across the country since 1998 -- including some resting beneath the oceans off the US coast, 74-year-old Catherine Austin Fitts told Tucker Carlson during a recent appearance on his podcast. "It's preparation for catastrophe," Fitts said, according to Realtor.com. Fitts, who served as assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1990, claimed $21 trillion in taxpayer dollars were funneled into the project between 1998 and 2015.