The Trump admin has awarded 2.6B in coronavirus contracts to first-time bidders, many of them unqualified grifters who played Trump and his administration for suckers and got away clean.
1/
1/
Exhibit A: Fillakit LLC, who got $7.3m to provide sterile test-tubes. Instead, they shipped FEMA soda-bottle "preforms" - these are miniature soda-bottles that you fit into a pressure blower that inflates them up 2l bottles.
propublica.org/article/the-tr…
2/
propublica.org/article/the-tr…
2/
Not only are these miniature soda-bottles and not test-tubes, they are also in NO WAY sterile. Here's how they were packed:
3/
3/
"Fillakit employees, some not wearing masks, gathered the miniature soda bottles with snow shovels and dumped them into plastic bins before squirting saline into them, all in the open air."
4/
4/
Writing for @propublica, @davidmcswane and @ryangabrielson paint a picture of a semi-competent conman who made a fortune while helping to destroy America's capacity to fight the pandemic of the century, abetting mass murder and economic collapse.
5/
5/
It's not surprising Fillakit had never earned a federal contract prior to coronavirus. The company was formed "just six days" before it won its contract.
Its founder? Paul Wexler, "an ex-telemarketer repeatedly accused of fraudulent practices over the past two decades."
6/
Its founder? Paul Wexler, "an ex-telemarketer repeatedly accused of fraudulent practices over the past two decades."
6/
But, you know, maybe tiny, contaminated soda bottles have some medical value?
"They’re the most unusable tubes I’ve ever seen. They’re going to sit in a warehouse and no one can use them. We won’t be able to do our full plan." - "top public health official," unnamed state.
7/
"They’re the most unusable tubes I’ve ever seen. They’re going to sit in a warehouse and no one can use them. We won’t be able to do our full plan." - "top public health official," unnamed state.
7/
"Wexler, Fillakit’s owner, has a background in law and real estate, not medical supplies. In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission accused Wexler and his telemarketing firm of illegal robocalling..."
8/
8/
"...making unauthorized charges to consumers’ bank accounts and falsely claiming to be a nonprofit org. Wexler’s firm allegedly misrepresented itself as a credit counseling service for several years, charging customers for work it did not do, according to court records."
9/
9/
"Wexler denied a request to tour the warehouse. Asked about the lack of sterile conditions and the use of soda preforms, Wexler screamed, 'What’s your problem, man?'"
(He seems nice.)
10/
(He seems nice.)
10/
To recap: a telemarketing grifter with a background in real estate sold Trump $7.3m worth of fake, contaminated test-tubes that undermined multiple states' covid testing capacity.
Ladeez and gennulmun, I give you: THE ART OF THE DEAL!
eof/
Ladeez and gennulmun, I give you: THE ART OF THE DEAL!
eof/
