Trump-friendly company under investigation gets $8 million no-bid contract to build 800 feet of wall

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/22/1939422/-Trump-friendly-company-under-investigation-gets-8-million-no-bid-contract-to-build-800-feet-of-wall

Trump-friendly company under investigation gets $8 million no-bid contract to build 800 feet of wall
Walter Einenkel
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday April 22, 2020 · 12:16 PM EDT


On April 15, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published the contracts and modified contracts they have with third party companies. At the very bottom of the long list was a modification to a contract the DoD had with Fisher Sand & Gravel Company, Dickinson, North Dakota. The contract was for border wall work in Yuma, Arizona, “for approximately 800 linear feet of 30-foot bollard barrier, roads, drainage improvements, lighting, closed-circuit TV, Type A fiber optic cable and Type B fiber optic cable.” The work is scheduled to be done by the end of 2020. That 800 feet of border wall fence will only cost $7,633,085.

If the name Fisher Sand & Gravel Company of North Dakota rings a bell, that’s because this is the same company that Trump reportedly kept pushing on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back in 2019. This is the same company with bids, officials wrote the president, that “did not meet the operational requirements of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its prototype project came in late and over budget.” This is the same company that ended up miraculously getting awarded a $400 million contract to build some of the border wall across an Arizona Wildlife Refuge. This is the same company with the $400 million contract that prompted an investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general—which is still ongoing.

Democratic Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi told reporters that "last time I checked, the inspector general has not yet determined if the December 2019 Fisher contract was properly awarded and the country is still facing a pandemic and largely under lockdown. The Army Corps should pause construction and contracting decisions until the investigation is complete and it is safe to resume non-essential construction projects. Army Corps resources should be put to better use responding to the coronavirus pandemic we are still facing."

To add to this stew, Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a big buddy of Fisher, whose campaign received a reported $10,000 dollars from Fisher, reportedly held up confirmation of a White House budget official last summer. This was a protest against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers perceived snubbing of Fisher Industries.

The Daily Beast reports that since Feb. 25, when the CDC warned that the coronavirus was already here and we needed to begin figuring out ways to mitigate the virus and the death toll, the “Army’s engineering arm has awarded at least $1.3 billion in wall contracts.” So while governors and hospitals across the country beg for more medical equipment and testing that continues to lag far behind, the U.S. government under Trump continues draining the coffers and dumping all of that cash into the corruption swamp they’ve created.

[SunSeeker]

1. K & R for exposure.

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[LuckyLib]

3. Surely somewhere in the Southwest there are companies that can build to

specifications -- going all the way to North Dakota to find one? BS!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. But it is -essential- for trumPutin to get his cut under the table to pay interest on debts!

Guaranteed grift.

[not fooled]

5. yuma is maggot central

heavily populated with white snowbirds and LDS, many racist and dumb as a box of rocks. I'm sure red don is making a particular point of doing wall work in maggot areas like that.

[duforsure]

6. Wonder how much trump demanded his cut was,

By forcing donating to his campaign fund which trump uses to funnel money to himself with?

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Hold On A Second!

$950 per foot! $52 million per mile?????
I'd stop the project simply based on what appears to be a preposterous unit price.
Concrete, fencing panels, fiber optics and cameras cost $950 per foot?

[BSdetect]

8. k&r Getting RSI with all these K&Rs So much grifting to keep up with

[crickets]

9. It never ends, does it?

This family is way too good at grifting to be accused of incompetence anywhere else. If you wonder how trump manages to bungle Covid-19 so badly, realize it is NOT bungled. All of this is deliberate.

*sigh*