- Oct 17, 2011
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Unwilling to exert the federal government to actually defeat the virus, the Trump Administration turned his attention to a taxpayer funded ad campaign to make people feel better about risking their lives to support the American economy. It was put into the hands of Trummp appointee Michael Caputo, HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. You may recall Caputo's name for being the guy taking a leave of absence after 5 months on the job, when he accused government scientists of sedition and told people to buy guns and ammo for when Trump declines to step down from the presidency after the election. As you might imagine, he might not have spent our money that wisely, or legally.
A top Trump administration official inserted “partisan political interests” into a $250 million advertising contract awarded just weeks before the election to “defeat despair and inspire hope” amid the coronavirus pandemic — excluding celebrities seen as critical of President Trump or his policies, according to documents obtained by Democratic House lawmakers.
documents showed that [Caputo] sought to use a taxpayer-funded campaign to boost the president only weeks ahead of his reelection bid. During a September meeting, for instance, he proposed that one of the themes be “Helping the President will Help the Country,” according to one document they obtained from a contractor.
I realize Trump has eroded ethics to an enormous extent, but I hope you can understand that public service messages are supposed to inform people of things, not to promote the incumbent's election chances with taxpayer money.
The documents show that Trump political appointees and the contractors they hired also vetted celebrities for the public health campaign based on whether they had ever criticized the president, or supported former president Barack Obama, gay rights or same-sex marriage. [e.g. Christina Aguilera “is an Obama-supporting Democrat and a gay rights supporting liberal”]
If nothing else, Dennis Quaid is cheaper than J Lo or Aguilera. But this still ranks as pretty petty vindictiveness.
The Democrats’ letter also cites an email that shows government officials encouraged Atlas Research — which Politico reported won a $15 million contract as part of the campaign — to select certain subcontractors, including DD&T, a company run by longtime Caputo business associate Den Tolmor. “This raises serious questions about whether there has been a violation of federal contracting law related to conflicts of interest,” the lawmakers write. [Later in the article the Atlas president says he hired 2 other companies at the urging of 'the government', even though these companies seem to be "one man shops" that don't have much public existence or information.]
The documents also indicate that career staff members at the Food and Drug Administration, as well as contractor employees, tried to push back on some of the efforts by Caputo and his associates because of concerns about the appropriateness of making a health campaign overtly partisan.
Oh, no, the Deep State has even infiltrated contractors! Where do they get this stuff about 'obeying the law' and 'ethical behavior'? Don't they know elections have consequences!
Unwilling to exert the federal government to actually defeat the virus, the Trump Administration turned his attention to a taxpayer funded ad campaign to make people feel better about risking their lives to support the American economy. It was put into the hands of Trummp appointee Michael Caputo, HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. You may recall Caputo's name for being the guy taking a leave of absence after 5 months on the job, when he accused government scientists of sedition and told people to buy guns and ammo for when Trump declines to step down from the presidency after the election. As you might imagine, he might not have spent our money that wisely, or legally.
A top Trump administration official inserted “partisan political interests” into a $250 million advertising contract awarded just weeks before the election to “defeat despair and inspire hope” amid the coronavirus pandemic — excluding celebrities seen as critical of President Trump or his policies, according to documents obtained by Democratic House lawmakers.
documents showed that [Caputo] sought to use a taxpayer-funded campaign to boost the president only weeks ahead of his reelection bid. During a September meeting, for instance, he proposed that one of the themes be “Helping the President will Help the Country,” according to one document they obtained from a contractor.
I realize Trump has eroded ethics to an enormous extent, but I hope you can understand that public service messages are supposed to inform people of things, not to promote the incumbent's election chances with taxpayer money.
The documents show that Trump political appointees and the contractors they hired also vetted celebrities for the public health campaign based on whether they had ever criticized the president, or supported former president Barack Obama, gay rights or same-sex marriage. [e.g. Christina Aguilera “is an Obama-supporting Democrat and a gay rights supporting liberal”]
If nothing else, Dennis Quaid is cheaper than J Lo or Aguilera. But this still ranks as pretty petty vindictiveness.
The Democrats’ letter also cites an email that shows government officials encouraged Atlas Research — which Politico reported won a $15 million contract as part of the campaign — to select certain subcontractors, including DD&T, a company run by longtime Caputo business associate Den Tolmor. “This raises serious questions about whether there has been a violation of federal contracting law related to conflicts of interest,” the lawmakers write. [Later in the article the Atlas president says he hired 2 other companies at the urging of 'the government', even though these companies seem to be "one man shops" that don't have much public existence or information.]
The documents also indicate that career staff members at the Food and Drug Administration, as well as contractor employees, tried to push back on some of the efforts by Caputo and his associates because of concerns about the appropriateness of making a health campaign overtly partisan.
Oh, no, the Deep State has even infiltrated contractors! Where do they get this stuff about 'obeying the law' and 'ethical behavior'? Don't they know elections have consequences!
