J. David Mcswane
ProPublica
Washington, DC, United States
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Documents Show Trump Officials Skirted Rules to Reward Politically Connected and Untested Firms With Huge Pandemic Contracts
House Democrats investigating the COVID-19 response say Trump adviser Peter Navarro pressured agencies to award deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars. → Read More
Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Weren’t Ready. —
Insurrectionists made no effort to hide their intentions, but law enforcement protecting Congress was caught flat-footed. → Read More
Foreign Masks, Fear and a Fake Certification: Staff at CSL Plasma Say Conditions at Donation Centers Aren’t Safe —
Trump’s FDA authorized emergency use of plasma therapy for COVID-19, despite a lack of proof that it saves lives. Staff at CSL Plasma, an industry leader, raised alarms about faulty masks as donors flooded in, but the FDA and OSHA were slow to act. → Read More
You Can Make Millions Selling Masks to the Government in Three Easy Steps
The federal government is essentially providing seed money to PPE startups, including some run by people accused of fraud. Mask brokers describe a simple blueprint for buying masks from China to get rich. → Read More
One Federal Agency Was Suing Him for Fraud. Another Paid His Company Millions for Masks.
Court records show the federal government gave $20 million in contracts to a company partly controlled by a man with a history of shady business practices. → Read More
FEMA Ordered $10.2 Million in COVID-19 Testing Kits It’s Now Warning States Not to Use
The faulty lab equipment sold by a company whose owner has faced fraud allegations is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general. → Read More
He Removed Labels That Said “Medical Use Prohibited,” Then Tried to Sell Thousands of Masks to Officials Who Distribute to Hospitals —
Using TaskRabbit and Venmo, a Silicon Valley investor and his business partner had workers repackage non-medical KN95 masks so he could sell them to Texas emergency workers. → Read More
Trump Administration Paid Millions To Sketchy Supplier For Useless Test Tubes
Something very swampy is going with this Houston company, a first-time FEMA contractor whose owner has run afoul of authorities more than once. → Read More
The Trump Administration Paid Millions for Test Tubes — and Got Unusable Mini Soda Bottles —
The plastic tubes supplied for coronavirus testing by Fillakit, a first-time federal contractor with a sketchy owner, don’t even fit the racks used to analyze samples. And they may be contaminated anyway. → Read More
The Secret, Absurd World of Coronavirus Mask Traders and Middlemen Trying To Get Rich Off Government Money —
The federal government and states have fueled an unregulated, chaotic market for masks ruled by oddballs, ganjapreneurs and a shadowy network of investors. → Read More
The TSA Hoarded 1.3 Million N95 Masks Even Though Airports Are Empty…
TSA officials stockpiled a huge shipment of N95 masks they knew they didn’t need even after two agency officials asked to donate them. Airport traffic fell 95 percent, and the masks have sat unused as hospitals searched desperately for them. → Read More
How profit and incompetence delayed N95 masks while people died at the VA
This story is wild. → Read More
How Profit And Incompetence Delayed N95 Masks While People Died At The VA
Federal agencies have hired contractors with no experience to find respirators and masks, fueling a black market filled with price gouging and multiple l... → Read More
The White House Pushed FEMA To Give its Biggest Coronavirus Contract to a Company That Never Had to Bid —
The Trump administration has rushed through more than $760 million in contracts outside the usual bidding process during its haphazard coronavirus response. It’s highly unusual for the White House to step into FEMA’s supply bidding process. → Read More
ICE Has Repeatedly Failed to Contain Contagious Diseases, Our Analysis Shows. It’s a Danger to the Public. —
ProPublica reviewed more than 70 reports detailing deaths in ICE detention over the last decade and found staff often break strict rules for testing contagious diseases. At least 10 detainees face quarantine for potential exposure to coronavirus. → Read More
U.S. Hospitals Say They’re Ready for Coronavirus. Their Infection Control Violations Say Otherwise. —
An outbreak would demand peak performance from America’s medical professionals — especially in hospitals. But many of the facilities that may be on the front lines have well-documented histories of failing to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. → Read More
We Want to Talk to People Working or Living on the Front Lines of the Coronavirus. Help Us Report. —
Are you a public health worker, medical provider, elected official, patient or other COVID-19 expert? We’re looking for information and sources. Help make sure our journalism is responsible and focused on the right issues. → Read More
We Want to Talk to People Working or Living on the Front Lines of Coronavirus. Help Us Report. —
Are you a public health worker, medical provider, elected official, patient or other COVID-19 expert? We’re looking for information and sources. Help make sure our journalism is responsible and focused on the right issues. → Read More
Inside the Trump Administration’s Chaotic Dismantling of the Federal Land Agency
Internal records from the Bureau of Land Management contradict what its chief told Congress about a plan to ship 200 D.C.-based career staff out West. The plan would weaken the agency, which stands between federal lands and oil, gas and mineral companies. → Read More
Texas' Medicaid system hurt vulnerable people as insurers got rich. Now major reforms head to Gov. Abbott
AUSTIN – In 2016, a foster baby born with severe defects needed constant monitoring from a nurse, to ensure he didn't pull out his breathing tube... → Read More