A private company that President Trump
Donald John TrumpDavis: The Supreme Court decision is bad news for Trump, good news for Vance Meadows trying to root out suspected White House leakers by providing them information: Axios Pressley beats DeVos for reopening of schools : ‘I would not trust you to worry about a house plant, much less my son’ MORE Criticized for his efforts to build a barrier near the US-Mexico border, he reportedly received $ 1.7 billion in federal wall contracts after personally putting pressure on the president on cable news.
The Texas Tribune reported Monday that Fisher Sand and Gravel received $ 1.7 billion from the Department of Defense and the Army Corps of Engineers for what has resulted in a nearly three-mile stretch of border fences near the National Wildlife Refuge Cabeza Prieta in Arizona.
Originally, the company indicated that it planned to build more than 30 miles of border fences, but the project was embroiled in legal battles as government attorneys warn that the structure is in jeopardy from recent erosion, the news outlet reported.
Trump criticized the company in a tweet Sunday morning, alleging that the project was launched to “make me look bad” and stating that he never had his support.
“I disagreed with making this very small (small) section of the wall, in a complicated area, by a private group that raised money with ads. It was only done to make me look bad, and now it doesn’t even work. It should have been built as the rest of the Wall, more than 500 miles, “the president tweeted.
He did not agree to make this very small (small) section of the wall, in a difficult area, by a private group that raised money with ads. It was only made to make me look bad, and perhsps now doesn’t even work. It should have been built like the rest of Wall, more than 500 miles. https://t.co/L8RUPCAhqc
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2020
The Washington Post reported earlier this year, however, that Trump himself supported the project and personally asked about the company’s funding offer after witnessing media appearances by CEO Tommy Fisher on Fox News and other media networks. cable news, during which the company official stated that the fencing can be completed quickly and at low cost.
Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Who chairs the House National Security Committee and has called for an audit of the project, told the Tribune in an email that the president was not being honest about his efforts to supporting Fisher Sand and Grava.
“The president is not telling the truth again. The administration has awarded large contracts to the same company, which is under federal investigation, that built this fence,” Thompson said. “His administration has also entertained outsourcing to private companies to get more mileage done before the election at the expense of proper oversight. There is no reason for construction to continue during a pandemic.”
Ryan Patrick, an American attorney from the Southern District of Texas who initiated the federal government’s lawsuit against Fisher, also pointed to the project in an extensive Twitter thread accusing the project of being nonsensical and calling it an expensive vanity project.
“What they built is one step beyond vaporware. We said it was too close to the water, that erosion would be a problem, that the location made no sense, etc. Now we are at risk of falling in a major storm / flood. “, said. tweeted
What they built is one step beyond vaporware. We said it was too close to the water, erosion would be a problem, the location made no sense, etc. Now we run the risk of the thing falling in a big storm / flood. 3 /
– US Attorney Ryan Patrick (@USAttyPatrick) July 12, 2020
“Tactically, the fence doesn’t make sense. There was no way to easily get a truck or mower on the river side once the erosion started. If things start to grow on the shore and ruin visibility now, what?” Patrick added.
Tactically, the fence is meaningless. There was no way to easily get a truck or lawn mower on the river side of the fence once the erosion started. If things start to grow in the bank and ruin visibility, what next? 4 /
– US Attorney Ryan Patrick (@USAttyPatrick) July 12, 2020
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