commission an INDEPENDENT audit to confirm the quantity and quality of the gold reserves reported by the US Treasury

A proper independent audit would include an accounting and assay of all the gold in U.S. reserve. This audit would verify both the quantity and purity of U.S. gold. Ideally, each gold ingot would be individually numbered and tested and at the end a reputable nongovernment auditor such as a major accounting firm would attest a complete inventory of separately numbered ingots. The US Treasury 'audits' the gold reserves by verifying that vault seals are not broken. The US Treasury simply checks the vaults seals and that is the audit they report. The failure to conduct a true independent audit is perennially advanced as evidence that the gold does not exist.