Thread by @SeanCasten

The suggestion that Jared Kushner may have intentionally allowed COVID-19 to run rampant in blue states has direct relevance to #IL06 and answers I still have not received from @FEMA.

Thread:
vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/h…

1/ On April 2 of this year, @FEMA provided a telephone briefing to the Region V (midwest) Congressional delegation, during which time we were told that PPE, ventilators and other critical COVID materiel were being preferentially dispatched to developing "hotspots".

2/ A week prior to that call, Trump had said that he would prioritize resources to Governors who were "nice" to him. vox.com/2020/3/25/2119…

3/ As a result, I asked @FEMA staff on that call how they were identifying hotspots since we did not have the resources to test the asymptomatic population (and to confirm that the President's fragile ego was not getting in the way).

4/ I was told that there were no epidemiologists on the call who could answer that question, but that they would follow up with our office.

5/ On April 7, having received no response, I sent a formal request to @FEMA detailing my request.

casten.house.gov/sites/casten.h…

6/ Today, 116 days later, and 121 days after being told by @FEMA that they had a scientifically informed model that they were using to allocate material, I have yet to receive a response.

7/ Last week, on July 30 I submitted a follow up request to FEMA.

8/ Coincidentally, that was the same day @KatherineEban reported that during this same time period Kushner's team concluded that it might be politically advantageous to risk the lives of Americans in Democratic states. vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/h…

9/ To review:
3/24: Trump says Governors have to be nice to him.
4/2: FEMA tells members of Congress they are prioritizing materiel to hotspots based on alleged model.

Meanwhile, in the White House:

10/ As of today, IL has received < 25% of its federal requests for N95 & surgical masks, <6% of its requests for gloves, <1% of its requests for gowns and <2% of its requests for Tyvek suits.

11/ And meanwhile, I have yet to receive any response to my requests for details on the models that @FEMA claimed to be using to allocate materiel on April 2.

12/ So the questions we now must ask:

a) Did the White House intentionally decide to limit access to testing, PPE and/or ventilators out of Presidential pique, leading to unnecessary and avoidable American deaths?

13/

b) If so, was @FEMA made aware of that plan and thereby complicit in those fatalities? If not, why are they still unable to provide any response to materiel allocation during those critical months in March and April?

14/ We will be following up with @FEMA and other relevant White House staff on these matters.

In the meantime, if you have any information in response to these questions, please contact my office directly. /fin casten.house.gov/contact