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Judi Lynn

(160,214 posts)
Fri May 22, 2020, 04:44 PM May 2020

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 Trump’s 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.

What’s 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

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The Feds Gave a Former White House Official $3 Million to Supply Masks to Navajo Hospitals. Some May (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2020 OP
$2M for him, and $1M slipped back into somebody's slush fund. (Sarcasm?) Firestorm49 May 2020 #1
And the Navajo Nation is under a basic siege because of this virus............. turbinetree May 2020 #2
I think you mean code talkers (NT) HuskyOffset May 2020 #19
Wado---------------thank you turbinetree May 2020 #24
Gee, it's not like these people are of good European lineage like all good mericans are. LiberalArkie May 2020 #3
The irony is that ... aggiesal May 2020 #9
Shame there isn't enough original Americans to kick the Europeans back to where they came from KS Toronado May 2020 #12
Yo, former military members, Corgigal May 2020 #4
or accidently slips on some soap in a public bathroom somewhere. nt. Hotler May 2020 #23
Good job draining the swamp Donny progressoid May 2020 #5
Indians will get sick and some will die because of this scum bag. rickford66 May 2020 #6
not only should the masks come under intense scrutiny NJCher May 2020 #7
Nail, meet hammer. SergeStorms May 2020 #18
"just days after..." - Luckeee, eh? keithbvadu2 May 2020 #8
I wonder if all the PPE that this guy supplied ... aggiesal May 2020 #10
My first thought also. DURHAM D May 2020 #11
21st century version of smallpox blankets? japple May 2020 #13
Criminals, the lot of them. LudwigPastorius May 2020 #14
Backpfeifengesicht for that sneering visage. niyad May 2020 #15
When I saw the picture... HuskyOffset May 2020 #20
Why does this remind me of the small pox blankets? Oppaloopa May 2020 #16
That guy just looks greasy JDC May 2020 #17
This corruption shit has got to stop. So tired of it. Hurry up Nov 2020. nt iluvtennis May 2020 #21
Crom forbid we give contracts to establish companies who know how to do the job. catrose May 2020 #22
Drain the Sewer. oasis May 2020 #25

turbinetree

(24,632 posts)
2. And the Navajo Nation is under a basic siege because of this virus.............
Fri May 22, 2020, 05:05 PM
May 2020

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 .............

LiberalArkie

(15,686 posts)
3. Gee, it's not like these people are of good European lineage like all good mericans are.
Fri May 22, 2020, 05:16 PM
May 2020

BARF... but you know that is how they think

aggiesal

(8,864 posts)
9. The irony is that ...
Fri May 22, 2020, 06:12 PM
May 2020

almost everyone south of the border, and I mean really deep south of the border are from European lineage!

rickford66

(5,498 posts)
6. Indians will get sick and some will die because of this scum bag.
Fri May 22, 2020, 05:51 PM
May 2020

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)
7. not only should the masks come under intense scrutiny
Fri May 22, 2020, 05:59 PM
May 2020

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)
18. Nail, meet hammer.
Fri May 22, 2020, 07:35 PM
May 2020

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.

aggiesal

(8,864 posts)
10. I wonder if all the PPE that this guy supplied ...
Fri May 22, 2020, 06:15 PM
May 2020

didn't come from the stolen PPE that governors around the country have reported taken by FEMA.

Things that make you go, hmmmm.

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