Thread by @JerryDunleavy

DOJ just let McKinsey avoid criminal charges for colluding with Purdue Pharma to unleash the opioid epidemic. McKinsey will now try to sneak into the Trump Admin
— but should a company that turbocharged an epidemic, lied about its work in China, & more be let in? Let’s explore.🧵

After Biden DOJ let them off the hook for opioid scandal, should Trump DOJ consider charges vs. McKinsey for working with CCP while advising the DOD & IC? McKinsey’s pattern of bad behavior during opioid crisis appears to be repeating with U.S. national security implications. 2/x

(I’ll get into all this in the thread, but beyond lying re: China work & colluding w/ Big Pharma during the opioid epidemic— while profiting off of pushing painkillers to vets while working with VA— McKinsey consults w/ fed agencies & pushed DEI into gov’t & orgs nationwide!) 3/x

Note: @ElonMusk said McKinsey lied about the benefits of leftwing DEI policies the company pushed into the government & orgs nationwide, & @VivekGRamaswamy called McKinsey out for its secret work for the CCP, so maybe all these McKinsey contracts should be reviewed by @DOGE? 4/x

Okay, let’s dive into Biden DOJ letting McKinsey off the hook for its role in the opioid epidemic weeks before Trump takes office. Press release spins it as a tough move (there’s a fine after all) but facts of the case show it would’ve been an easy prosecution & conviction.🤷‍♂️ 5/x

Biden DOJ announced this in a Friday news dump, but happy Monday — we’re still talking about it! DOJ gifted McKinsey a 5-year deferred prosecution agreement for felony destruction of records to obstruct an & a misdemeanor for conspiring with Purdue to improperly sell opioids. 6/x

The 71-page Agreed Statement of Facts details how McKinsey conspired with Purdue Pharma for years to turbocharge the opioid epidemic by flooding the United States w/ OxyContin. McKinsey made millions & millions of dollars from the scheme as U.S. painkiller abuse skyrocketed. 7/x

Sen. Hawley’s response to this sweetheart deal was correct — the Biden DOJ is letting McKinsey get off with a monetary slap on the wrist for their lucrative consultancy role exacerbating the opioid epidemic (which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans). 8/x

“Much has been disclosed over the years on McKinsey’s relationship w/ Purdue Pharma... But the NYT found the firm played a far deeper & broader role advising clients involved in the opioid crisis than was publicly disclosed.” So why is McKinsey still doing work with the feds? 9/x

McKinsey has faced increased scrutiny for its clear conflicts of interest involving its work with the Department of Veterans Affairs while the consulting company was simultaneously advising opioid manufacturers — McKinsey profited bigly by pushing painkillers to warfighters. 10/x

“McKinsey Never Told the FDA It Was Working for Opioid Makers While Also Working for the Agency. The consulting giant was helping Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson fend off FDA regulations even as it helped shape FDA drug policy.” Again, how is this in any way acceptable? 11/x

Lawmakers: “It has become increasingly clear that McKinsey’s unprecedented access to VA decision-making… allowed them to exploit their consulting contracts to the benefit of their opioid manufacturer clients and to the detriment of many veterans suffering from injuries…” 12/x

“Since at least 2009, McKinsey & Co. has been a consultant to the Department of Veterans Affairs...During part of that time, the consulting giant also advised some of the world’s biggest opioid producers to target the agency for sales of their products.” Pretty big conflict! 13/x

Rubio: “No entity involved in the proliferation of opioids should be advising the VA on vital projects impacting how & when veterans receive healthcare. An entity like McKinsey that touted its relationship w/ the VA to make a profit shouldn’t be allowed to receive VA money.” 14/x

So McKinsey must pay a fine but is getting criminal amnesty (just before Trump takes office) for its big role exacerbating the deadly opioid epidemic. But McKinsey still does sweeping & lucrative consulting across government (DOD, the IC, etc) & lied about its work in China! 15/x

Rubio, Ernst, & Moolenaar this year: “It’s deeply disturbing that McKinsey, which has a history of undermining the interests of the U.S. government in favor of another client, engaged in sensitive government contracts with DOD while failing to disclose its work with China.” 16/x

The lawmakers wrote to Austin & Garland detailing McKinsey’s work in China helping the CCP, calling McKinsey out for lying to Congress, & asking for investigations into McKinsey’s lies & a review of its federal contracts. Maybe @PeteHegseth & @PamBondi can pick up the baton. 17/x

Hawley: “Why should you get any contracts from the U.S. government? If you’re going to advise foreign nations that are hostile to us & make gobs of money off of them, why should you be getting U.S. government contracts?”

McKinsey: **Evasion Ensues** 18/x

“Urban China Initiative’s book — with a foreword by one of McKinsey’s most senior partners in China & drawing on work by McKinsey’s in-house research arm — formed part of the Chinese government’s research for its 13th Five-Year Plan [including the Made in China initiative].” 19/x

.@MarcoRubio & @HawleyMO: “Your company’s inability to come clean about its dealings with the PRC disqualifies it from future work with the U.S. government — a government your company has worked to undermine… at the behest of our nation’s primary geopolitical adversary.” 20/x

.@CommitteeOnCCP detailed McKinsey’s shady work in China: “While providing consulting services that allowed the PRC to rapidly develop its military & economy in open opposition to U.S. interests, McKinsey substantially increased its defense-related work w/ the U.S. gov’t…” 21/x

Oh BTW, McKinsey has also done work with Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate Rostem while at the same time McKinsey was doing work for the Pentagon & the IC. McKinsey of course tries to defend all of this nonsense, because thus far there have been no real consequences. 22/x

Now that we’ve laid out just some of McKinsey’s shady dealings — from the opioid epidemic to lying about work in China — keep in mind that, since 2008, McKinsey got dozens of DOD contracts totaling *hundreds of millions of $$$*, including a lucrative contract just last year! 23/x

Oh by the way the intel community — beginning with the CIA under the leadership of John Brennan — has also paid McKinsey more than ten million dollars purportedly to assist with reorganization within the IC. Again, why is McKinsey getting U.S. tax $$$ with its track record? 24/x

On top of this, McKinsey has been a big advocate for DEI initiatives for years seeking to inject DEI into the federal government & into companies nationwide. One problem? The claims that McKinsey made about the benefits of DEI would be debunked. McKinsey kept pushing anyway. 25/x

McKinsey used the COVID-19 pandemic to push for more DEI initiatives inside of government & orgs nationwide. This is just one of the many many examples of how they sought to insert DEI programs across the country. Again, doesn’t seem to line up with the incoming Trump Admin. 26/x

But it turns out that McKinsey’s DEI research — which was cited by the federal government to justify DEI initiatives — was likely deeply flawed. So, they pushed a bad leftwing ideology based on bad research. Seems… bad. Again, this company is getting *tons* of taxpayer $$$. 27/x

So as new POTUS comes in, he’ll face a McKinsey that’s just been let off the hook for the opioid epidemic & that’s been exposed for lying about work in China & for pushing bogus DEI research & on & on. Trump needs to decide if this org really deserves the tax $ it’s getting. 28/x