According to a report from ProPublica, a food aid program promoted by Ivanka Trump has been found by Congressional investigators to have been used for political gain. The Food to Families program gave tens of millions of dollars to unqualified firms and was also used to promote former President Donald Trump when he was in office.
“A $6 billion federal program created to provide fresh produce to families affected by the pandemic was mismanaged and used by the Trump administration for political gain, a new congressional report has found,” the outlet reports.
“As a ProPublica investigation revealed last spring and as the new report further details, the Farmers to Families Food Box program gave contracts to companies that had no relevant experience and often lacked necessary licenses,” the report continues. “The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which released its report last week, found that former President Donald Trump’s administration did not adequately screen contractor applications or identify red flags in bid proposals.”
“The congressional report also highlighted the application of an avocado grower who was initially awarded a $40 million contract before it was canceled after a review,” the report continues. ‘Under the section of the application that required applicants to list references, the farmer wrote, “I don’t have any.”‘
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“The yearlong congressional investigation also identified problems with the deliveries themselves, including food safety issues, failed deliveries and uneven food distribution,” ProPublica reports. “Some contractors also forced recipient organizations to accept more food than they could distribute or store.”
“Committee chair Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said in a statement that the mismanagement of the program is another example of the previous administration’s failures,” according to the report.
“ProPublica also found that the Trump administration hired a lobbyist to counter the criticism that contracts were going to unqualified contractors,” the report adds.
Is anyone else not surprised that a program under the Trump administration mismanaged millions of dollars during the raging pandemic and gave that money to wholly unqualified companies? And then he used that program for political gain. It’s not shocking since the twice-impeached one-term president entered office with zero political experience, then brought in inexperienced individuals to assist his administration. People like Ivanka Trump, for example.
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
