All the Trumpster’s Mayhem

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.”

Z

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.  

US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Inspector General John V. Kelly

December 1, 2017-June 2019

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Inspector General Joanne Chiedl

June 1, 2019-December 27, 2019

US Department of Transportation

Inspector General Calvin Scovel

October 26, 2006-January 31, 2020

US Intelligence Community

Inspector General Michael Atkinson

May 17, 2018-April 2020

US Department of Defense

Inspector General Glenn Fine

January 14, 2016- April 7, 2020

US Department of State

Inspector General Steve Linick

September 30, 2013-May 15, 2020

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Inspector General Christi Grimm

December 27, 2019 (expected departure) late 2020

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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Accelerated Disabling of US Public Service: “America the Beautiful” to Trump’s “America the Expendable”

Riotous Hiring and Firing, Disarray and Dumping Inspectors General

An inspector general (plural inspectors general) is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. In the United States, there are inspectors general at the federal, state, and local levels. Various agencies have inspectors general.

These officials lead organizations charged with examining the actions of a government agencies, military organizations, or military contractors as a general auditor of their operations

…to ensure they are operating in compliance with generally established policies of the government,

…to audit the effectiveness of security procedures, or

…to discover the possibility of misconduct, waste, fraud, theft, or certain types of criminal activity by individuals or groups related to [agencies’ operations], usually involving some misuse of [organizations’] funds or credit.

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rump Co dismissals, resignations April, May 2020

 Inspectors General among them  

April 2020

Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson

April 7, 2020

Department of Defense Inspector General Glenn Fine

Expected departure: late 2020

HHS Inspector General

Christi A. Grimm

[Trump criticized Grimm for a report on the coronavirus pandemic]

May 15, 2020

State Department Inspector General

Steve Linick

[Fired after opening an investigation into Secretary Mike Pompeo’s alleged misuse of a political appointee to do tasks for him and Mrs. Pompeo. The president claimed he had lost confidence in Linick]

Others in April and May

April 2020

Chief of Staff to the First Lady, Lindsay Reynolds

April 7, 2020

White House Director of Communications, Stephanie Grisham

April 7, 2020

Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly [Resigned after the controversial removal of USS Theodore Roosevelt Captain Brett Crozier]

April 22, 2020

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response           

Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority [amidst coronavirus pandemic] Rick Bright

           

May 8, 2020

Chief Operating Officer of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Deirdre Walsh

May 24, 2020

Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Joe Grogan

U

nder the Trump regime, there has been an acutely accelerated disestablishment of the people’s government, and particularly the civil service. The civil service acts or should act on behalf of the people, the common defense and general welfare, of the United States of America.

The mission of the civil service is not to act on behalf of private profiteers or private enterprise.

However, Donald John Trump, standing at the pinnacle of power, pimp and pinup for private profit, pushes a cynical, PR-made MAGA mantra masking his true “mega” allegiance to super big business, bucks, and billionaire buddies—all the while driving the US descent into disorder, destabilization, disability, dishonor, and destruction.

In January 2020, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas at Brookings wrote on Trump’s destruction of the nation’s National Security Council, and the consequences. Combinations of “high turnover, major staff cuts, and new leadership have … crippled the role of the NSC.”  Pointing particularly to the Trump-ordered killing Iranian General Qasim Soleimani, she wrote

“The inability to coordinate a consistent message, let alone a single message, for why the US ordered the death [of Soleimani] demonstrates the absence of staff influential enough to have prepared for the aftermath of such a momentous and consequential action.

Working at such a disadvantage alongside an impulsive president who consistently shows disdain for expertise, collaboration and debate poses a risk to the country at large,” i.e., the United States of America, its people, its global standing, and its foreign relations.

The “extraordinary rate of high-level turnover concomitantly causes a cascade of departures,” she wrote. One National Security Advisor’s departure causes more NSC departures, more disarray and reticent or scared work performance, rising levels of anxiety and lowering levels of expertise. New NSAs bring new staff, “hand-picked associates,” bringing new structuring and more disorder, and all round dysfunction.

• In March 2020, the Guardian wrote, “By our count, Trump has overseen 54 high-profile departures in a blizzard of indecision and turmoil that would be hard for even the sharpest White House-watcher to recall.”

• In April, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas reported “Just 32 months into the Trump administration, the rate of turnover had exceeded his five predecessors’ full first terms.”

“At the same time, Cabinet turnover was also breaking new records and the number of vacancies across Senate-confirmed positions in the nation’s federal departments was sky high.

“Not only had the Trump administration not nominated candidates for many of these positions, but some who had been confirmed were departing at the start of year two.”

• In May 2020, a Brookings Institution report said, as of May 15, 2020, “President Trump’s ‘A Team’ turnover [was] 86 percent.

Ø  56/65 (86 percent) ‘A Team’ positions [had] turned over

Ø  As of May 15, 38 percent of President Trump’s ‘A Team’ departures [had] undergone serial turnover”

Brookings explains “A team” [using National Journal sources] as personnel “deemed most influential or key ‘Decision Makers’ in a new administration.”

T

hose who take to social media and broadcasting outlets and rant day in and day out against “bureaucrats” and “unelected so and so(s)” had better understand (a) that government (public service) has a distinct purpose for the people of the United States; and (b) that same government, with its inspector general offices, has built-in protections against itself, so to speak—against personnel who would abuse any office of government.

For his own personal purposes, Donald Trump is destroying those protections. The Trump presidency offers to the world a reality TV buffoon, an arrogant know-nothing with a persecution complex, a paranoiac chronically engaged in nepotism, cronyism and criminal abuse of public office. His antics are throwing essential institutions to the wind—recklessly disestablishing Americans’ public service, and setting an outrageous and untenable precedent for future US government administrations.

Sources

Wikipedia

“Inspector General” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_general

“List of Trump Administration Dismissals and Resignations” (latest update May 16, 2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Trump_administration_dismissals_and_resignations

“National Security Council” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Council

Morris, Sam and Francisco Navas “The firings and fury: The biggest Trump resignations and firings so far” The Guardian March 25, 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2018/jul/05/donald-trump-firings-resignations-white-house-full-list-latest

 Brookings REPORT “Tracking turnover in the Trump administration”

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas May 2020 https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas is described as a Governance Studies nonresident Senior Fellow.

Tenpas, Kathryn Dunn “And then there were ten: With 85% turnover across President Trump’s A Team, who remains?” April 13, 2020 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/04/13/and-then-there-were-ten-with-85-turnover-across-president-trumps-a-team-who-remains/

Tenpas, Kathryn Dunn “Crippling the capacity of the National Security Council” January 21, 2020 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/01/21/crippling-the-capacity-of-the-national-security-council/

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