WaPo: Kushner Coronavirus Effort Said To Be Hampered By Inexperienced Volunteers
NYT: How Kushmer’s Volunteer Force Led A Fumbling Hunt For Medical Supplies
For the past two months, health care workers have put their lives in unnecessary jeopardy because of the Trump administration’s failure to secure personal protective equipment (PPE). Yesterday, reports from the Washington Post and New York Times detailed just how severely Donald Trump failed to secure PPE. Instead of turning to people with extensive knowledge of supply chains, Trump and his son-in-law turned to inexperienced volunteers as they pursued contracts with Trump-allies instead of legitimate sources.
Trump Son-In-Law Jared Kushner Led An Effort To Secure PPE That Relied On Private Sector Volunteers With Little Expertise In Tasks They Were Assigned.
- New York Times: “The Volunteers, Foot Soldiers In The Trump Administration’s New Supply-Chain Task Force, Had Little To No Experience With Government Procurement Procedures Or Medical Equipment.” “The volunteers, foot soldiers in the Trump administration’s new supply-chain task force, had little to no experience with government procurement procedures or medical equipment. But as part of Mr. Kushner’s governmentwide push to secure protective gear for the nation’s doctors and nurses, the volunteers were put in charge of sifting through more than a thousand incoming leads, and told to pass only the best ones on for further review by FEMA officials.” [New York Times, 5/5/20]
- Washington Post: “None Of The Volunteers Had Relationships With Manufacturers Or A Clear Understanding Of Customs Requirements Or Food And Drug Administration Rules.” “The document alleges that 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.” [Washington Post, 5/5/20]
Outside Experts Called The Project “Laughable” And One Volunteer Involved With The Project Described It As “Grossly Inadequate.”
- One Kushner Volunteer Said Of The White House Effort: “The Nature And Scale Of The Response Seemed Grossly Inadequate.” “‘The nature and scale of the response seemed grossly inadequate,’ said the volunteer, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity and, like the others, signed a nondisclosure agreement. ‘It was bureaucratic cycles of chaos.’” [New York Times, 5/5/20]
- Get Us P.P.E Founder Dr. Valerie Griffeth: “To Bring In Inexperienced Volunteers Is Laughable When There Are Professional Logistics Experts In Government Who Could Have Helped.” “‘To bring in inexperienced volunteers is laughable when there are professional logistics experts in government who could have helped with procurement and distribution and get us the supplies we need,’ she said.” [New York Times, 5/5/20]
Volunteers Ignored Credible Supply Offers, Instead Attempting To Fast-Track Proposals From Trump Allies.
- Kushner Volunteers Passed On Supply Offers From Credible Sources Like Dr. Jeffrey Hendricks, Who Had Longtime Manufacturing Contacts In China. “Dr. Jeffrey Hendricks had longtime manufacturing contacts in China and a line on millions of masks from established suppliers… ‘When I offered them viable leads at viable prices from an approved vendor, they kept passing me down the line and made terrible deals instead,’ said Dr. Hendricks, who has since sold supplies to hospitals in Michigan and elsewhere.” [New York Times, 5/5/20]
- Volunteers Were Instructed to Fast-Track Equipment Leads From “VIPs” Like Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade And Jeanine Pirro. “Supply-chain volunteers were instructed to fast-track protective equipment leads from ‘VIPs,’ including conservative journalists friendly to the White House, according to the complaint and one senior administration official. ‘Fox & Friends’ host Brian Kilmeade, for example, called two people he knew in the administration to pass along a lead about PPE in an effort to be helpful, said two people familiar with the outreach. Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro also repeatedly lobbied the administration for a specific New York hospital to receive a large quantity of masks, one of the people said.” [Washington Post, 5/5/20]
The Trump Administration Wasted Crucial Resources And Awarded Contracts To Sham Vendors.
- As The Group Struggled To Procure PPE, 30 Percent Of “Key Supplies” Were Directed To Kushner’s Failed Drive-Through Testing Project. “Even as the volunteer group struggled to procure PPE, about 30 percent of ‘key supplies,’ including masks, in the national stockpile of emergency medical equipment went toward standing up a separate Kushner-led effort to establish drive-through testing sites nationwide, according to a March internal planning document obtained by The Post and confirmed by one current and one former administration official. Kushner had originally promised thousands of testing sites, but only 78 materialized; the stockpile was used to supply 44 of those over five to 10 days, the document said.” [Washington Post, 5/5/20]
- Kushner’s Forwarded An Unvetted Tip To Federal Officials, Who Awarded A Silicon Valley Engineer A $69 Million Contract For Ventilators That Were Never Delivered. “At least one tip the volunteers forwarded turned into an expensive debacle. In late March, according to emails obtained by The Times, two of the volunteers passed along procurement forms submitted by Yaron Oren-Pines, a Silicon Valley engineer who said he could provide more than 1,000 ventilators. Mr. Kushner’s volunteers passed the tip to federal officials who then sent it to senior officials in New York, who assumed Mr. Oren-Pines had been vetted and awarded him an eye-popping $69 million contract. Not a single ventilator was delivered, and New York is now seeking to recover the money.” [New York Times, 5/5/20]
Trump’s Cronyism And Use Of Inexperienced Volunteers Resulted In Mass Shortages And Led To The Deaths Of Frontline Health Workers.
- New England Journal Of Medicine: “The Situation Has Become So Dire That Some Providers Are Using Social Media (With Tags Like #GetMePPE) And Have Even Set Up Websites To Obtain PPE Directly.” “Shortages have led to pleas from individual U.S. health care providers trying to secure adequate supplies of PPE. The situation has become so dire that some providers are using social media (with tags like #GetMePPE) and have even set up websites to obtain PPE directly… Additional guidelines from the CDC include reusing masks and respirators intended for one-time use and, if stocks are fully depleted, using scarves or bandanas. The evidence to support these recommendations is thin.” [New England Journal of Medicine, 4/30/20]
- The Hill: Nurse Who Fought For More PPE Dies Of Coronavirus Days Before Retirement. “A nurse who fought for more personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the coronavirus epidemic allegedly died of COVID-19 last week, days before her union says she was scheduled to retire. National Nurses United first announced Celia Yap Banago’s death in a press release last week and celebrated her life in a candlelight vigil Thursday in front of Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., where she worked for 40 years. The union released footage of the vigil on Sunday, saying Banago contracted the disease while caring for an infected patient. The union said in the release Banago was ‘one of many’ nurses who ‘expressed concern over inadequate COVID-19 preparation’ at the center.” [The Hill, 4/27/20]