- Jared Kusher facilitated the delivery of 45 fans from Russia to the US around March, two officials told the Daily Beast.
- Those fans turned out to be defective, and were sidelined, local officials said.
- The Beast report said national security officials – and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo – were surprised to see supplies arriving from Russia.
- According to the Beast, Kushner hastened the order through a personal relationship with the CEO of a Russian sovereign wealth fund that is currently under U.S. sanctions.
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Jared Kushner made a deal with Russia for 45 fans to be brought to the US to help with the coronavirus crisis, all of which turned out to be defective, according to a new report.
Two senior Trump administration officials told the Daily Beast that Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump and one of his senior advisers, helped secure an equipment order that included the fans.
The delivery was canceled on April 1 from the Russian-marked aircraft in New York, as the COVID-19 outbreak reached its most intense in the state.
The Beast said the order was carried out by the State Department but was passed on thanks to Kushner’s relationship with Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund of the Russian government.
According to the Beast, RDIF – which is subject to US sanctions – has paid for half of the equipment. The sanctions limit the fund’s interactions with U.S. entities, but do not completely block them, Beast said.
A Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft carrying medical equipment at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on April 1, 2020.
TASS TASS via Getty Images
Delivery arrived but fell short of expectations. Officials in New York and New Jersey told the Beast that the fans were not working.
Other outlets had previously reported problems with the fans: two U.S. officials told ABC News in May that they could not use them immediately because of problems with their voltage.
ABC also reported that the shipment contained thousands of medical supplies that are not often used by hospitals, such as domestic gloves, and that Russia paid the US nearly $ 660,000 for them.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo then asked the Trump administration for more fans, saying on March 24 that the state needed 30,000 more.
He said: “We have tried everything else. The only way we can get these fans is from the federal government. Period.”
In May 2020, nurses will treat a coronavirus patient in Seattle, Washington.
Karen Ducey / Getty Images
According to the Beast, Cuomo’s staff were surprised to see deliveries coming from Russia, which they had instead expected to come from federal supplies, rather than producing new ones in the US.
Russia’s ambassador to the United States called the shipment a “humanitarian mission.” Trump welcomed the equipment, saying in a press release on April 2 that Putin offered him equipment in a phone call.
“He has offered many high quality medical items that I accept and that can save a lot of lives. I will take it every day.”
Kusher was in charge of Project Airbridge, a project he designed to bring medical supplies and equipment to the US from Asian manufacturers.
Pallets containing personal protective equipment will be unloaded on 12 April 2020 from a FedEx cargo plane at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Steven Senne / AP
The program was largely ended in May, even though the outbreak of the US continued and states and hospitals still saw deficits.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in May 2020.
Alexei Druzhinin TASS fia Getty
The Treasury Department, State Department, Russian Direct Investment Fund and Dmitriev did not respond to requests from the Daily Beast for comment, and the White House did not comment on the record.
