Both the Washington Post and the New York Times are covering this story of the latest scandal/ farce involving Trump failson- in- law Jared "Mr. Ivanka Trump" Kushner. Fortunately, for posterity and possible future prosecution, another whistleblower has come forward with details about how the Kushner- led volunteer (!) effort to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) predictably came a cropper, amidst amateur bungling, cronyism, and corruption. Here's a summary of some of the lowlights from Karen Tumulty:
The story line, which sounds as though it might have been lifted from the reality show “Shark Tank,” had been that these whiz kids from consulting, venture capital and private equity firms were better equipped than federal officials who have spent years planning for a disaster like the one we are going through to sift through leads on where to find badly needed personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies and cut deals to acquire them.
That the volunteers would want to lend a hand is admirable, but finding and procuring the proper equipment require a high degree of technical knowledge. As my colleagues Yasmeen Abutaleb and Ashley Parker reported, “the team responsible for PPE had little success in helping the government secure such equipment, in part because none of the team members had significant experience in health care, procurement or supply-chain operations. In addition, none of the volunteers had relationships with manufacturers or a clear understanding of customs requirements or Food and Drug Administration rules, according to the complaint and two senior administration officials.”
And as you might expect in any operation run by a member of the Trump family, some leads and requests got better treatment than others. Documents and emails indicate there was a spreadsheet titled “V.I.P. Update,” which gave priority to Trump allies who included Republican members of Congress; former “Apprentice” contestant Tana Goertz, who now runs Women For Trump, and favored media figures such as “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade. Also put on a fast track were requests by Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro that a specific New York hospital receive a large quantity of masks.
Recall how the same themes of bungling, cronyism and corruption are found in whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright's complaint regarding pushing hydroxychloroquine as a "silver bullet" treatment for COVID-19 because Trump had his "gut" feeling about its efficacy. Think we're seeing a trend here?In one case, Kushner’s volunteers forwarded a tip (that they claimed to have checked out) to New York state, which awarded a $69 million contract to a supposed supplier of ventilators. Not one was delivered. Meanwhile, more credible leads were being ignored. (our emphasis)
This is what government run by The Trump Organization, with an assist by the slumlord Kushner Companies, looks like -- except we're dealing in human lives, not multiple failed business ventures.
BONUS: Here's the Wonkette treatment of the scandal/ farce.
BONUS II: Master Jared has the Peter Principle pushing him to greater heights --
NEW: Kushner,
fresh off royally screwing up PPE acquisition, has been given a new
mission by the president: to get a vaccine by the end of the
year.
We're fucked, aren't we?https://t.co/PPLM0Mxia2
—
Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) May
6, 2020
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