The Trump administration paid a bankrupt company with zero employees $55 million for N95 masks, which it's never manufactured

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FEMA told Insider it "does not enter into contracts unless it has reason to believe they will be successfully executed."

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The Trump administration paid a bankrupt company with zero employees $55 million for N95 masks, which it's…

FEMA told Insi

• The Trump administration has awarded a $55 million contract for N95 masks to a company with no experience producing medical supplies and whose parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency told Insider that the company, Panthera, is scheduled to deliver the masks on April 23.
• Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told The Washington Post that something was "amiss" about this order.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people cover their mouth and nose with a cloth when they're around others but says to "not use a facemask meant for a healthcare worker."

The coronavirus pandemic has created a desperate clamber for vital medical supplies, like N95 masks, that has led the federal government to award massive contracts to third-party vendors to help fill the gaps.

In this chaotic effort to obtain supplies, the Trump administration paid $55 million to Panthera Worldwide LLC, a company with no expertise in the world of medical equipment, for N95 masks, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Panthera's parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last fall, and one of its owners last year said it'd had no employees since May 2018, The Post reported, citing sworn testimony. It's no longer listed as an LLC in Virginia, where its main office is, after fees went unpaid, the newspaper said.

Panthera, which describes itself as a tactical training company for the US military and other government agencies, has no record of producing medical supplies or equipment, The Post said.

Read more: Morgan Stanley just released a comprehensive timeline of the coronavirus outbreak. Here's when analysts think the US will increase testing, get a vaccine, and finally return to work.

The company's website says it "provides elite, scenario-based tactical, aviation and intelligence training and instruction for Defense Department, State Department, Federal Agency and Law Enforcement teams who operate in sensitive environments worldwide, to enable those teams to meet their mission goals and requirements."

Panthera's executives are being sued by a Virginia businessman who leased the company's primary asset, a training facility in West Virginia, The Post reported.

James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told The Post that the company was working with military contacts to obtain the masks.

"We've done [Department of Defense] medical training over the years and through those contacts with that community were brought sources of supply in order to assist in the COVID-19 response," Punelli said in a text message to The Post. "We made the connection with FEMA and offered these supplies to them."

"We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product," Punelli said, adding that the company is registered as an LLC in Delaware.

The Post reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was paying Panthera about $5.50 per mask, decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M, which charges about $0.63 per mask.

Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary, told The Post something was "amiss" about this order. "This is not how the government procures training or any type of supplies," he said. "You just wouldn't do business with somebody like that."

A FEMA representative told Insider that there was nothing in the standard background checks conducted in relation to government contracts that indicated Panthera "isn't responsible."

"As with any contract, FEMA is bound by law to follow Federal Acquisition requirements and processes. Per these Federal Acquisition requirements and processes, the Contracting Officer conducted a contractor responsibility determination. The Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) was examined and Panthera met the necessary requirements. The company did not appear on the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS)," FEMA said, adding that a review did not find Panthera showing "any delinquent federal tax (of more than $3,500) in the last three years."

"FEMA does not enter into contracts unless it has reason to believe they will be successfully executed. The required review led us to conclude that Panthera would able to deliver on their contract," the representative said. "As with any contract if the company cannot deliver or delivers sub-standard product, the agency can use legal means against a company."

The representative said that the ordered equipment hadn't arrived yet but that Panthera had provided written confirmation that the masks were in the shipping phase of delivery. The delivery is scheduled for April 23.

Since mid-March, the government has purchased more than $600 million worth of masks, according to The Post.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people cover their mouth and nose with a cloth when they're around others but says to "not use a facemask meant for a healthcare worker."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week that residents in New York, which has been hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak in the US, will be required to wear masks or face coverings in public when it's not possible to follow social-distancing guidelines.

SEE ALSO: The US is 'not a global power' thanks to Trump's disastrous coronavirus response as China fills the void, former US officials warn

DON'T MISS: Trump's plans to cut WHO funding amid the coronavirus could exacerbate the crisis and cost more American lives

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The devastating health impacts of coronavirus have been compounded by economic anxieties associated with healthcare costs. Patients fighting for their lives are sometimes more worried about affording care than staying focused only on battling COVID-19. A nurse in New York City told CNN that she treated a patient about to be placed on a ventilator whose last words were: "Who's going to pay for it?" This man was in severe respiratory distress and yet his main concern was the cost of a potentially life-saving procedure. We need to do more to make healthcare affordable and accessible. Trump has the chance to take one simple action that could make millions of lives better: He could open a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act to give uninsured Americans access to coverage in the wake of this crisis. Will you join me in calling on the President to put politics aside and re-open ACA enrollment, so millions of Americans can access the healthcare they need during this crisis? For many Americans, the impact of a lost job, a staggering hospital bill, or even a deceased loved one will be felt by them and their families for years to come. The last thing any American should have to worry about right now is having healthcare. Will you join me in calling on President Trump to put the people first and re-open ACA enrollment? Thank you, -- David

Democrat David Cicilline proudly represents Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District. An advocate for LGBTQ rights, a leader on gun violence prevention, and a fighter for Rhode Island families — David is one of our fiercest legislators in the Trump Era. Our campaign is powered by supporters like you. Your grassroots support is critical to helping David's campaign for Rhode Island's 1st District.

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FAIR: NYT Blames Maduro for Healthcare Horror, Downplays US Role

View article on FAIR's website NYT Blames Maduro for Healthcare Horror, Downplays US Role Bryce Greene Online headline for a New York Times report (4/10/20) on childbirth in Venezuela. The New York Times (4/10/20) published an article describing the horrendous shape of the Venezuelan healthcare system. The human interest story, written by Julie Turkewitz and Isayen Herrera, followed several women through their nightmarish journey of childbearing in a broken medical system. The piece would be outstanding reporting, had it not fumbled the most important aspect of the story: how and why the system is as bad as it is. In true “manufacturing consent” fashion, the piece downplayed the US role in destabilizing the Venezuelan economy, and instead pointed to President Nicolás Maduro’s “authoritarianism” as the primary cause of the crisis. The piece appeared on the Times’ front page on Saturday. The section of the piece visible on the front page pointed to Maduro as the cause for Venezuela’s healthcare problem, saying the system had been “crippled by a broken economy overseen by an increasingly authoritarian government.” The story continued on an inside page, where it finally referenced the US role in creating the desperate conditions. The reporters briefly mentioned that Maduro claimed that US sanctions had some effect, but quickly brushed the claim aside, citing “analysts and critics” who said that Maduro’s charge had “only some weight.” New York Times image (4/10/20) of childbirth at a Venezuelan public hospital. To back this up this dismissal, the authors cited Feliciano Reyna, the founder of a nonprofit known as Action for Solidarity. Reyna blamed the Maduro administration for refusing to accept help from aid organizations. He indicated that despite the sanctions, the country would be able to receive the supplies it needed from those organizations. However, a few paragraphs later, the piece stated the government had been attempting to receive help through the Red Cross for nearly a year now, throwing Reyes’ criticism into doubt. The contradiction was not addressed by the reporters, and the doublethink was allowed to go unchallenged, even as the piece acknowledged that the Red Cross has been failing to meet Venezuela’s needs, due to a lack of funds, and quoted Venezuela Red Cross leader Louis Farias, who said that their chapter’s call for help “didn’t get the backing [they] had hoped.” The New York Times omitted other statements from the Red Cross organization that shed more light on the role the US has played. Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of the Red Cross, stated publicly last year that he believed that “political will” was behind the lack of funding for Venezuela. He said that there are some who wanted “to use the civilian population, their desperation, as a tool to destabilize the country.” Rocca pointed out that “it is easier to receive funds for Syria and even for Yemen.” Later in the piece, the reporters cited economist Asdrúbal Oliveros, who claimed that “Mr. Maduro had simply chosen to prioritize the import of oil and food over medicine.” Oliveros believes the calculus was based on the fact that “pregnant women and sick people don’t protest—but that hungry people do.” No explanation was offered for why it’s Maduro’s fault that his administration has been forced to choose between essential resources for his country. The piece merely calls Oliveros “one economist,” failing to disclose that he has been part of the Venezuelan opposition backing would-be president Juan Guaidó in an ongoing US-backed coup attempt against Maduro. Oliveros was described by the pro-Guaidó publication Americas Quarterly (4/18) as one of the “10 People Who Will (One Day) Rebuild Venezuela.” Infant mortality in Venezuela continued a long-term decline after the election of Hugo Chavez in 1999—but began resurging in 2015, the year President Barack Obama first imposed sanctions on Venezuela (substantially toughened by Donald Trump in 2017). The New York Times and other elite media have played an important role in mobilizing the US public against the Maduro government. They have highlighted the very real hardships on the ground, while casting blame for them almost exclusively on the “authoritarian” Maduro government (which, despite media's constant implications, won an internationally observed election with more than 4 million more votes over the president’s closest rival—FAIR.org, 5/10/19). They consistently downplay the role of US sanctions in contributing to the dire economic situation (FAIR.org, 2/6/19, 6/26/19, 3/25/20). If the Times were concerned about the fate of the women it profiled, and the state of Venezuelan economy, the paper would direct its readers to the sources of instability for which they bear the most responsibility. US sanctions have decimated the Venezuelan economy, as was predicted by analysts when they were first imposed. One 2019 study from the Center for Economic Policy Research found that the sanctions had indirectly caused the deaths of 40,000. Portraying Maduro as the sole reason for the country’s crisis is factually incorrect and journalistically irresponsible. Featured image: New York Times photo (4/10/20) of a pregnant woman seeking medical help at a Venezuelan hospital.

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ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: I said this from the start.

I said this from the start: when you speak truth to power, power fights back.

Did you know that a corporate dark money group is bankrolling one of our opponents? They’re misleadingly named U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and they’re focused on propping up conservative, right-wing candidates. They’re coming for me because I call out corrupt Wall Street bailout schemes.

So, if you can afford it, I’m asking you to help show that our fight for working families – and against corruption – is here to stay. Make a contribution to our re-election campaign right now.

Our primary on June 23rd is coming up fast. What we raise now will determine how hard we can organize to overcome entrenched interests – and whether our grassroots movement and our commitment to our values, integrity, and paradigm-shifting is strong enough to win.

If we’re going to continue building support for Medicare for All and if we’re going to fight back against corrupt schemes like Republicans’ $2 trillion corporate bailout, we need political courage more than ever.

Our fight is even more urgent now. So please: can I count on you to make a contribution to our re-election campaign? Any amount helps.  But if you can’t afford it today, please don’t worry.

Thank you. With your help, we will make the road right. We will make the crooked path straight. And we will respond to the crises we face not by going backward, but by going forward.

Pa'lante,

Alexandria

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WHEN DEMOCRATS TURN OUT: Demand Trump stop tweeting "#FireFauci"

A recent poll shows Americans view Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, as the official they trust the most to share advice on COVID-19. He beat out 9 other government officials on a list that included Mike Pence and Donald Trump.   After the poll was released, Trump retweeted “#FireFauci.”    Source: Twitter   Trump has already removed Dr. Fauci from news briefings, and this week Trump made a major decision to cut off support for the WHO -- with Dr. Fauci nowhere to be seen. Given Dr. Fauci’s growing absence and Trump’s tendency to fire his staff by tweet, we need to know......

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RSN: Mort Rosenblum | Broken Arrows, Forked Tongues

15 April 20

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RSN: Mort Rosenblum | Broken Arrows, Forked Tongues

Mort Rosenblum, Reader Supported News
Rosenblum writes: "Up here where an Apache chief and an Army general once made peace meant to last, stirring views overlook a diminished America, a money-talks nation in the grip of newcomers who believe it belongs only to them."

 

OCHISE STRONGHOLD, Arizona — Up here where an Apache chief and an Army general once made peace meant to last, stirring views overlook a diminished America, a money-talks nation in the grip of newcomers who believe it belongs only to them.

Before the road narrows and climbs to forests and rocky peaks, I saw a sign on a shabby ranch-house fence: “TRUMP — Keep America First.” In today’s lingo, that means send intruders back where they came from. Fair enough. Adios, dude.

My t-shirt had a different message. Along with a sepia-tone photo of four carbine-wielding warriors in deerskin boots framed by an outline map of Arizona, it read in old-timey letters: “Homeland Security, Fighting Terrorism since 1492.”

Apaches and other tribes have been around for nearly a millennium. Spanish missionaries came in the 1500s. This was Mexico until 1853. Arizona has been a state only since 1912. We “white eyes” outsiders are the “aliens.”

Today, crisp piney air evokes Cochise’s time when cellphones were no-G smoke signals, tweets were for the birds, and “fox” referred to a shifty carnivore that eagles ate for lunch. Land deeds were inconceivable. But not only snakes had forked tongues.

That 1871 treaty with the general soon fell apart as people moved West. Ranchers and settlers wanted land. After a renegade band killed a corrupt whiskey seller, the U.S. Cavalry mounted up. Blood spilled again for 15 more years.

I learned the history when I camped here as a kid. Since then, I’ve watched hubris, greed, and stupidity too often misguide American foreign policy. Small incidents trigger big conflicts. At home and abroad, this is far worse than I’ve ever seen.

Arizona, once blue then red, is as politically purple as its majestic mountains. And it is a crucible of two heated issues as Trump tries to shape America in his own image: Who belongs; and who holds title to natural splendor, scarce water and mineral wealth.

On a break from isolation to avoid the killer virus Donald Trump allowed to run wild, I took a slow ride through Indian country and ranchland I knew in the 1960s. 

The old whistlestop town of Willcox was mostly locked down, but at a sparse open-air market, I met a crusty coot with a long, straggly white beard in a shirt proclaiming him a Vietnam vet. He was still pissed that pacifists stopped America from finishing the job.

“I’m not worried about that virus,” he told me, with a dismissive wave, then hacked mightily. I skipped my usual routine — a handshake while asking for a name — and just wrote down Gabby. “I had the flu when I was a kid, and I figure I’m immune.” 

Gabby echoed what I’ve heard with resolute intensity since 2016: America needs Trump to make it safe and respected in the world.  “He says what he means, no ifs, ands, or buts,” Gabby said. “You can oppose him, but you’ll find out you’re wrong.”

Cochise, like Geronimo who fought to the bitter end, was a Chiricahua Apache from sky-island mountains nearby, spectacular rock formations that loom 6,000 feet above high desert, with 375 species of birds. Deer and black bear remain, but jaguars are gone.

Driving up the Chiricahuas, the only Indians I saw were two motorcycles made in Iowa, along with two Harley-Davidsons, all kitted out in Hells-Angels fashion. Their riders were mild-mannered couples on holiday. We talked pleasantly until I mentioned Trump’s inaction on the virus. All four eyed me narrowly and roared away.

At Cochise Stronghold, U.S. Forest Service posters implore visitors not to disturb relics and remains. It is illegal, they say, but also vital so that future generations know what came before them. Yet a forked-tongue president plunders the West outrageously.

To the southwest, bulldozers plow up Tohono O’odham burial grounds and ceremonial sites at Organ Pipe National Monument to build a barrier with no practical purpose beyond firing up Trump’s base. It devastates wildlife habitats and fragile desert ecology. 

Smugglers tunnel under, climb over, or cut through. Most contraband moves through ports of entry in trucks and trains. Drug lords and gang leaders come in the front door with faked documents. Only desperate small bands risk crossing the hostile desert. Yet while a pandemic demands full attention, crews push ahead on the Wall.

New regulators enable miners to gouge out natural beauty on public land. A federal judge has blocked the $1.9 billion Rosemont copper mine on sacred ground near Tucson that would send its profits to Canada. But Trump is rapidly packing appellate courts.

Beyond physical impact, Trump has picked up on the ugliest undercurrents in American society. He tells fearful, hateful people what they want to hear. Evidence notwithstanding, they tune out all the rest.

Coronavirus has hit Indian reservations hard, as flu did in 1918. Diabetes, cancer, heart disease and asthma are rife. Health care is limited. “This could be like a wildfire,” Kevin Allis of the National Congress of American Indians told The Washington Post. “We could all get wiped out.”

As settlers moved into Apache lands in 1861, peace was still possible. But George Bascom, a young lieutenant, falsely accused Cochise of a raiding a ranch and abducting a 12-year-old boy. When Cochise went to meet him with family members in tow, Bascom tied him up in a tent. He escaped alone, seizing hostages after he fled.

Cochise tried to negotiate. Bascom refused. The missing boy reappeared and said his captors were from a different Apache clan. By then, Bascom had hanged Cochise’s brother and two nephews. Cochise had killed three hostages. And war raged for a decade.

One trooper’s diary summed up the lesson Americans have yet to learn: “Tread on a worm, and it will turn — disturb a hornets nest and they will sting you — So with savage Indians: misuse them and you make them revengeful foes.”

Countless Hollywood westerns portray Apaches as vicious killers, kidnappers, and thieves. “Broken Arrow” dug deeper in 1950. It would be skewered today as politically incorrect; Jeff Chandler, smeared in red, plays Cochise. But it shows bitter enemies can find common ground with earned respect and diplomacy.

Tom Jeffords, an Army scout turned government Indian agent, spent months with Cochise, winning his trust. General Oliver Howard rode up to the chief’s stronghold and agreed to cede the Dragoon and Chiricahua mountains as protected territory.

But after four quiet years, renegades killed a crooked whiskey seller. Settlers demanded protection from “terrorists.” Fort Bowie added reinforcements. When Geronimo finally surrendered in 1886, Chiricahua Apaches were sent to Florida on a trail of tears.

The grim reality of “manifest destiny,” as America pushed west against all obstacles, natural or human, helps answer that hoary question about the wider world: why do they hate us?

Cochise and Jeffords often came to mind as I reported on abrupt American policies shifts, broken promises that left allies in the lurch and turned pacified people into adversaries seeking payback. The Kurds, again and again, are blatant examples.

Americans tend to see “primitive” societies as easily manipulated, not realizing that they are committed to codes of honor and blood revenge when wronged. Many are outraged when friends the United States takes for granted refuse to follow it into folly.

No one is “for us or against us” as George W. Bush declared when he widened his response to 9/11 into a diffuse global war on terrorism. That only magnified the threat geometrically and cost well over $6 trillion, money we could use at home about now.

That is ancient history for people who follow their leader in any direction his lies direct them. For them, birthright and tradition count for little. Money and guns prevail. America is first, and nothing else matters.

Land titles, obviously, are now essential. Too many people share limited space, and parents pass on property to their kids. But no one really owns land that has been here for millions of years and will be here when we go.

Cochise took Jeffords and the Army general at their word. Had settlers and soldiers not reneged on their treaty, Apaches might still be up here sharing their land with visitors who respect their ancient spirits.

To Indians, breaking an arrow meant peace. But in a superpower that arms to the teeth and wages needless war, “broken arrow” is now a term for a nuclear weapon gone astray or triggered by accident with devastating result. Something has gone wrong.

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Mort Rosenblum has reported from seven continents as Associated Press special correspondent, edited the International Herald Tribune in Paris, and written 14 books on subjects ranging from global geopolitics to chocolate. He now runs MortReport.org.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

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