The Feds Gave a Former White House Official $3 Million to Supply Masks to Navajo Hospitals. Some May
Source: ProPublica
Zach Fuentes, former deputy chief of staff to President Trump, won the contract just days after registering his company. He sold Chinese masks to the government just as federal regulators were scrutinizing foreign-made equipment.
by Yeganeh Torbati and Derek Willis May 22, 4:10 p.m. EDT
Zach Fuentes on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 19, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
A former White House aide won a $3 million federal contract to supply respirator masks to Navajo Nation hospitals in New Mexico and Arizona 11 days after he created a company to sell personal protective equipment in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Zach Fuentes, President Donald Trumps former deputy chief of staff, secured the deal with the Indian Health Service with limited competitive bidding and no prior federal contracting experience.
The IHS told ProPublica it has found that 247,000 of the masks delivered by Fuentes company at a cost of roughly $800,000 may be unsuitable for medical use. An additional 130,400, worth about $422,000, are not the type specified in the procurement data, the agency said.
Whats more, the masks Fuentes agreed to provide Chinese-made KN95s have come under intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators amid concerns that they offered inadequate protection.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-feds-gave-a-former-white-house-official-3-million-to-supply-masks-to-navajo-hospitals-some-may-not-work
Firestorm49
(4,002 posts)turbinetree
(24,632 posts)Last edited Sat May 23, 2020, 07:48 PM - Edit history (1)
the same people that were the code talkers .........to help win World War II and they get nothing basically from this administration .............
HuskyOffset
(885 posts)turbinetree
(24,632 posts)corrected..........
LiberalArkie
(15,686 posts)BARF... but you know that is how they think
aggiesal
(8,864 posts)almost everyone south of the border, and I mean really deep south of the border are from European lineage!
KS Toronado
(16,904 posts)Corgigal
(9,291 posts)seems like someone deserves a blanket party.
Hotler
(11,353 posts)progressoid
(49,825 posts)rickford66
(5,498 posts)I hope when Biden is in office, criminal investigations will commence about all the profiteering. Be nice if we could allow the Indians to seek revenge on their own.
NJCher
(35,423 posts)His behavior should, too. He resigned in January, claiming medical reasons. However, we know that the Trump administration knew plenty about this pandemic. This guy was in the White House. He may very well have known what was coming down.
If you look at any of the federal ethics codes, he would have violated quite a number of them. Here's an example:
Employees shall not engage in financial transactions using nonpublic Government information or allow the improper use of such information to further any private interest.
And that's just one. There are many sections that appear to have been violated. Yes, I understand that they were having trouble procuring supplies, and yes, I understand they loosened the rules because they were desperate, but this reeks.
on edit: this is just one of many ethics codes you will find posted at various federal department web sites:
https://www.energy.gov/hc/services/benefits/new-employee-orientation/ethics-fourteen-principles-ethical-conduct-federal
SergeStorms
(18,883 posts)You hit the nail right on the head. This is another of Trump's "best people", and needs to be investigated like the rest of the grifters in his administration. Every damned one of them is a crook.
keithbvadu2
(36,362 posts)aggiesal
(8,864 posts)didn't come from the stolen PPE that governors around the country have reported taken by FEMA.
Things that make you go, hmmmm.
DURHAM D
(32,595 posts)This guy should be hung as should Jared.
japple
(9,773 posts)eom?
LudwigPastorius
(8,943 posts)niyad
(112,432 posts)HuskyOffset
(885 posts)...I got a very strong "frat bro" vibe.