Trump administration accused of 'seizing' 50,000 N95 respirators intended for medical workers

[OhioChick]

Trump administration accused of ‘seizing’ 50,000 N95 respirators intended for medical workers by Masks for America founder

On Saturday, writing for USA TODAY, Women’s March official and manufacturing expert Bob Bland accused the Trump administration of diverting medical supplies her Masks for America organization had intended for medical workers.

“One month ago, as COVID-19 spread across the county and critical personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gloves, surgical gowns and face shields continued to be in short supply, I had hoped the government would do its job and act to meet this demand,” wrote Bland. “But when news outlets reported that medical workers were being left vulnerable to infection without PPE, it was clear we couldn’t wait for the Trump administration any longer. A small group of volunteers came together to found Masks for America and teamed up with leading health care activist Ady Barkan’s Be A Hero Fund, Social Security Works and National Nurses United to get our front-line heroes the equipment they needed to stay safe as they saved lives.”

“On April 11, during the peak of COVID-19 cases and deaths in New York City, the Federal Emergency Management Agency intervened and demanded orders of medical equipment allocated to our relief efforts be redirected to the federal government,” she continued. “FEMA then seized 50,000 N95 respirators we had ordered without giving us an explanation or telling us where those respirators were going.”

“In my 15 years of working in the manufacturing industry with international and domestic supply chains, I have never — never — had the federal government interfere like this,” Bland wrote. “It wasn’t long before I realized it wasn’t only happening in New York and New Jersey … Since those reports of FEMA quietly seizing materials, at least six states have lodged similar complaints against the federal government interfering with their supply chains.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/trump-administration-accused-of-seizing-50000-n95-respirators-intended-for-medical-workers-by-masks-for-america-founder/

[Eugene]

1. With RawStory, it's best to use the original reporting they copy from.

Original Op-Ed:

I sent masks to health workers but the Trump administration seized them instead of helping

We need government transparency and accountability for coronavirus failures. We must also make more medical supplies in America and rely less on China.

Bob Bland Opinion contributor
Published 6:00 a.m. ET May 16, 2020

One month ago, as COVID-19 spread across the county and critical personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gloves, surgical gowns and face shields continued to be in short supply, I had hoped the government would do its job and act to meet this demand. But when news outlets reported that medical workers were being left vulnerable to infection without PPE, it was clear we couldn't wait for the Trump administration any longer.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/05/16/trump-team-seized-my-masks-for-coronavirus-health-workers-column/5191035002/

[OhioChick]

2. I've been here since '04

Raw Story was always used for news.

Is that a no-no now?

[Eugene]

3. RawStory's use as a news source is a dependable source of controversy, especially in LBN.

RawStory repackages the reporting of other outlets, often in a more sensational form.

Clickbait? Not quite. However, you can't go wrong by looking for the embedded link to the original news story.

[OhioChick]

4. Interesting....

Everyone loved them back in '04.

[getagrip_already]

8. Their editorial policies are close to theft of IP.....

They routinely take the work of others and make it appear as their own, many times with no attribution. If you simply google those headlines you find the original, and complete, sources.

Using content without attribution is wrong. They are trying to make people believe they are an original news source, when in reality they are mostly an aggregator. A lot of their story summaries are so short they amount to click bait.

They could provide a useful role. But they mislead and deceive. I can't tolerate that in a "news" organization.

[left-of-center2012]

14. Like them or hate them

RawStory is often used in DU as a 'news source',
even in LBN.

[left-of-center2012]

12. Raw Story is often used in DU as a news source

In LBN too.

[erronis]

17. I'm hoping that any of us that post content from elsewhere will do proper attribution.

At least LBN requires that source link.

Other discussion groups should also encourage attribution and, when possible, use the original content link rather than an aggregator.

When an article is behind a paywall I'll try to excerpt 2-3 paragraphs to give the context along with the paywalled link.

[left-of-center2012]

19. "At least LBN requires that source link."

LBN does not require a link to the ‘original source’;
simply to the source being posted.

Many ‘aggregate sites’ are sources for DU posts, even local newspapers that may carry stories from around the world, etc.

“It is what it is”

[Historic NY]

5. None of this PPE should be shipped or left unattended by armed guards

or the State Police. The government is stealing it and now is sending stuff to India under the guise of some made-up companies of Kushners pals.

[Girard442]

21. Yup. Time to pull out all the stops.

Split up shipments into many smaller ones. Mislabel them. Send them by different shippers. Send them COD, so at least the Feds can't take them without either paying or nakedly stealing them. How about offering shippers a bonus if the PPE arrives safely. I guarantee there are shippers who will get the stuff there if you give them big fat incentives.

Maybe it's time the guvs offer some drug smugglers early release if they'll share their secrets.

[UpInArms]

6. Thank you for posting, OhioChick!

This maladminstration has dug for new lows on a daily basis ...

So glad to see you this morning... you and your family have been in my thoughts

[OhioChick]

10. ......

[bucolic_frolic]

7. white house black market

it's not a tea company

[ananda]

9. They are seizing them so Project Airbridge can corner the market.

Guess who's running Project Airbridge: Jared Kushner.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-what-is-project-airbridge/

As U.S. hospitals are in search of the medical supplies they need to fight COVID-19, the federal government is working with private companies to bring, in the words of President Trump, "massive amounts of medical supplies from other countries to the United States."

The effort is called "Project Airbridge," and on Sunday, Mr. Trump announced that the first flight of equipment from Shanghai landed in New York with 80 tons of personal protective equipment. That FEMA-funded flight contained roughly 130,000 N95 masks, roughly 1.8 million face masks and gowns, more than 10.3 million gloves and more than 70,000 thermometers, according to a White House official.

FEMA and the State Department are coordinating flights to bring the supplies to the U.S. in two to three days, rather than shipping them by sea, which would take 20-40 days.
........
Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who heads the Office of American Innovation, is the White House point person for the project, which is being supported by FEMA's transportation task force and State Department task forces. Those entities are working alongside health care distributors, including Cardinal Health, McKesson, Henry Schein, Owens & Minor and Medlin.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

22. Remember Jared saying, "... our stockpile ..."? Low-life, grifting thieves.

[getagrip_already]

11. Just curious, but who is paying for the masks?

I know the real point is that the PPE is the critical item, and it is not going where it is most needed. I also get there is price gouging in some parts of the market, and the gov has a role in policing that, sometimes by seizing inventory.

BUT, when I order 10,000 masks, I would expect I would be required to pay for them FOB @ the shipping point. If the gov then "seizes" them in transit, they have taken property I paid for. I'm now out both the PPE and the money I used to buy them, meaning I may not have any more to buy replacements or to use for other critical needs.

So are the feds either reimbursing the buyers or paying the sellers? Or is this literally a theft of goods, transferred to politically aligned companies who then sell them on the open market to potentially be re-seized? Now that is quite a racket. Someone buys a truckload of ppe from fob my plant. I tell the feds, they seize the truck, and then give it back to me for private sale. I'm under no obligation to return the buyers money.

Rinse, lather, repeat?

[OhioChick]

15. From what I've heard..

FEMA is intercepting PPE enroute to hospitals, such as N-95's and selling them to other countries.

[getagrip_already]

25. source? that would be blatantly illegal on so many levels......

Even if we acknowledge the feds have a right to control distribution of a critical asset, selling them through straw companies to other countries doesn't fit the nature of a national emergency.

I've heard they are turning them over to private companies in some cases. But if they aren't being sent to us locations, the whole rationale is broken and illegal.

They are taking powers meant to protect americans by shepherding a rare resource to it's best uses and perverting it for private gain.

Look, if a company is price gouging and has a warehouse full of badly needed supplies, sure, seize them and send them along. But that doesn't mean stealing from us hospitals to sell to foreign agents for a personal profit. That is stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

A lot of federal appointees are going to be surprised that a lot of what they are doing is illegal and can be prosecuted by a doj that does its job..

[OhioChick]

26. You can find many sources online, I already provided one

Think that all hospitals have enough PPE?

Look at the doctors and nurses wearing garbage bags.

[lark]

13. Killing blue state people on purpose so they can profiteer & we can't vote against him.

Guarantee you that when this hits red states, they won't have to go to "outside vendors" to get the supply items at 15x the normal price and they won't have the supplies they buy confiscated by drumpf out of hate - like has happened in MD, NJ, & NY that I have heard about.

[BadgerMom]

16. How is this not a crime?

I don’t live in America anymore.

[ancianita]

20. Under rule of law it is. Under declaration of "national" emergency,

all tyrannical, genocidal crimes are "legal."

The only way to stop this: Governors MUST use their purchasing powers to step up and purchase all their states' supplies for them. This is the only action that can stop the federal stealing of local level supply purchases. They know this. We shouldn't have to keep reading about ongoing theft anymore.

Federal "Emergency" powers will HAVE to be legislated in explicit language during the next president's term, assuming Americans get to vote for another party at all in a free and fair election.

[AllyCat]

18. And we still don't have adequate PPE at my facility 3 months in.

We are still reusing flimsy surgical masks for weeks on end.

[Duppers]

23. K & R

[diva77]

24. K&R for exposure. I hope more whistleblowers step forward to expose

Dump & his accomplices with their dirty hands in the ppe cookie jar.