Revolving-Door Fraudsters
Zachary D. Fuentes: Flag bearer to Oval office Decider
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he United States Coast Guard Academy’s entering cadets “take two
semesters of classes—courses in “leadership, ethics, organizational behavior,
and nautical science”— and a lot of military training “to produce officers of
character with the requisite professional skills.”
Entering cadets in this establishment received “indoctrination into
military culture,” which includes required memorization of trivia and changing
information:
- the menu for the next three meals in the Wardroom (dining hall)
- the mission of the Academy
- the entire chain of command
- each athletic team's next scheduled opponent
- the lengths of different types of Coast Guard Cutters
- the meanings of all the different nautical flags, and
- the finer points of various military ceremonies.
This was Zachary D. Fuentes’s training before he became an assistant to
the US president and a deputy chief of staff in the Trump administration.
Though Wikipedia lists Northwestern University, under education in Fuentes’ profile
data, I found no record here or in other sources that this man holds an academic
degree, has substantive experience of any kind, or has any knowledge or preparation
sufficient or suitable for (a) advising a US president, (b) earning a US government
contract, (c) judging suitability or durability of surgical or other protective
material, or (d) conducting any kind of business.
In his job with the White House, Zachary D. Fuentes reportedly advised the
president not to visit the World War I cemetery in Belleau, Northern France, on
whose grounds stands a monument to United States Marines; and among the interred
more than 2,289 dead, 1,060 commemorated, 250 unknowns; and Medal of Honor
recipient Weedon Osborne.
Chicago native Weedon
Edward Osborne, during the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood, attempted to “aid
the wounded … and was killed while attempting to carry an injured officer to
safety on June 6, 1918. Weedon Osborne died at age 25 and was buried in
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, Belleau, Aisne, France. Weedon Edward Osborne
(November 13, 1892 – June 6, 1918) was a United States Navy officer and a
recipient of America’s highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor (awarded posthumously
along with the Distinguished Service Cross)—for his actions in World War I. He is
one of only three dental officers to have received the medal.
No Weedon Osborne, Zachary D. Fuentes reportedly is known for having tried
to weasel out of his US military service commitment and get paid for escaping
his original pledge.
In 2018, Zachary D.
Fuentes reportedly had talks with US Homeland Security officials, who then
pressured members of Congress, to add a clause in a House of Representatives
bill that would allow him “to take advantage of a Coast Guard early retirement
program— that had previously expired.”
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achary D. Fuentes is still making news for corruption and cowardice.
ProPublica reports: “A former White House aide won a $3 million federal
contract to supply respirator masks to Navajo Nation hospitals in New Mexico
and Arizona 11 days after he created a company to sell personal protective
equipment in response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Zachary D. Fuentes “sold
Chinese masks to the government just as federal regulators were scrutinizing
foreign-made equipment.” The former deputy chief of staff to President Trump
had “won the contract just days after registering his company.”
In Wikipedia, the news reads
“During the 2020
COVID-19 pandemic, Fuentes created Zach Fuentes LLC and received a $3 million
contract to provide face masks 11 days after creating the company.
“The contract was
with the Najavo Nation hospitals through the Indian Health Service.
“It appears over 25%
of the masks are unsuitable for medical use, and another 15% were of a type
that was not requested.
House members wanted
to investigate the contract, and the OIG office [Office of Inspector General]
of HHS [US Department of Health and Human Services] said they would take a
look, in response to concerns raised by United States Representative from
Virginia’s 11th congressional district Gerald Edward Connolly.
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eware all Inspectors General. US
President Donald Trump’ rap sheet many entries of IG dismissals
and firings.
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Inspector
General John V. Kelly
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December 1, 2017-June 2019
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Inspector
General Joanne Chiedl
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June 1, 2019-December 27, 2019
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Inspector
General Calvin Scovel
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October 26, 2006-January 31, 2020
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Inspector
General Michael Atkinson
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May 17, 2018-April 2020
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Inspector General Glenn Fine
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January
14, 2016- April 7, 2020
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Inspector
General Steve Linick
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September 30, 2013-May 15, 2020
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Inspector
General Christi Grimm
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December 27, 2019 (expected departure) late 2020
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Wikipedia
List of
Trump administration dismissals and resignations (latest update May 25, 2020)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Trump_administration_dismissals_and_resignations
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overnment Chaos, a sorted record, and a cagey character
Fuentes dumped the Guard and jumped into US federal contracting where
he knew very well that, in a global health crisis, especially for scam artists,
con men, and crooked politicians, there was even more money to be made and
wasted than is usually made and wasted.
“The coronavirus pandemic loosened many federal procurement rules as
agencies scrambled to respond to a national emergency,” Propublica wrote. “But
as supplies of personal protective equipment ran out and many countries
restricted exports, delivering on contracts became more difficult, and agencies
have wrestled with incomplete orders, cancellations and possible counterfeit
goods.”
“Small pox” and “Fire water” all over again
As coronavirus infections and deaths rose among people of the Navajo
Nation, their hospitals were “desperate for protective supplies.”
The Navajo Nation, which occupies portions of northeastern Arizona,
southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico in the United States, the
largest land area retained by a US indigenous tribe, with an estimated population
of 173,667, had reported “4,434 COVID-19 cases, and 147 deaths.”
And Fuentes had fabricated a new enterprise.
Based on statements by the Indian Health Services, ProPublica reported that “247,000 of the masks
delivered by Fuentes’ company — at a cost of roughly $800,000 — may be
unsuitable for medical use;” and another “ 130,400, worth about $422,000, are
not the type specified in the procurement data.”
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merica is in the grips of a severe illness, an illness that is much
worse and much deeper than a coronavirus pandemic.
America’s sickness is breach of trust and a critical loss of public trust, a loss of anchoring, secure grounding,
of the ship of state. The condition has been brought on by careless officials; inept, unscrupulous, corrupt
and criminal, deliberately ignorant, recklessly untrustworthy people in and
around government positions and offices.
We are a people in a bubble, a fixed, individually boxed-in state of
nothingness, a place of interminable instability, unreality treated as “normal”
(new or old normal); a void in which,
unrecognizable, true substance is devalued, or dismissed without consideration.
We are a sick nation unaware of our condition.
Sources
Yeganeh Torbati and Derek Willis “The Feds Gave a Former White House
Official $3 Million to Supply Masks to Navajo Hospitals. Some May Not Work” Propublica
May 22, 2020 https://www.propublica.org/article/the-feds-gave-a-former-white-house-official-3-million-to-supply-masks-to-navajo-hospitals-some-may-not-work
indianz.com “ProPublica: Former Trump aide provided faulty masks to
Indian Health Service” May 22, 2020 https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/05/22/propublica-former-trump-aide-provided-fa.asp
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisne-Marne_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zachary_Fuentes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Connolly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensign_(rank)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard_Academy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Nation
CBS News
Melissa Quinn “The internal watchdogs Trump has fired or replaced by
Updated on: May 19, 2020
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-inspectors-general-internal-watchdogs-fired-list/
Michael Atkinson
Intelligence Community
Mitch Behm
Transportation Department
Glenn Fine
Defense Department
Christi Grimm
Health and Human Services
Steve Linick
State Department
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