Top Trump adviser pursued his own supply strategy
A top adviser privately urged President Donald Trump to acquire critical medical supplies in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak — and after the warning was ignored, pursued his own ad hoc strategy that committed more than $1 billion in federal funds, according to newly released documents from congressional investigators.
Peter Navarro’s actions since have prompted multiple probes.
Navarro, who was Trump’s trade adviser, warned the president on March 1, 2020, to “MOVE IN ‘TRUMP TIME” to invest in ingredients for drugs, handheld coronavirus tests and other supplies to fight the virus, according to a memo obtained by the House’s select subcommittee on the coronavirus outbreak.
Navarro also said he’d been trying to acquire more protective gear such as masks, critiquing the administration’s pace.
“There is NO downside risk to taking swift actions as an insurance policy against what may be a very serious public health emergency. If the COVID-19 crisis quickly recedes, the only thing we will have been guilty of is prudence,” Navarro wrote to the president.
At the time, there were about 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States and just two deaths linked to the outbreak.
But after Trump ignored Navarro’s recommendations, the trade adviser embarked on his own strategy to acquire supplies with little oversight, Democrats said.
Navarro subsequently steered a $765 million loan to Eastman Kodak to produce ingredients for generic drugs, a $354 million solesource contract for pharmaceutical ingredients to a start-up called Phlow, and a $96 million solesource contract for powered respirators and filters from AirBoss Defense Group.
The administration’s loan to Kodak, which had never previously manufactured drugs and is best known for its former photography business, was paused last year amid probes by multiple congressional committees.
Meanwhile, leaders of Phlow — a company that had never previously manufactured drugs and was only incorporated in January 2020 — strategized with Navarro’s office on its proposal to produce pharmaceutical ingredients in Virginia.
Company leaders had won Navarro’s favor by making the argument the United States was too dependent on Chinese manufacturing — a big concern of Navarro’s.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency subsequently awarded a $354 million contract to the firm with $458 million more in contract options amid pressure from Navarro, who urged officials to “please move this puppy in Trump time.”
House investigators also obtained documents where retired Gen. Jack Keane, a Trump ally who was a paid AirBoss consultant, touted the company to Navarro on March 22, 2020, and helped arrange an immediate conversation between its leaders and White House officials.
The company the next day submitted a $96.4 million proposal, and Navarro assured AirBoss leaders to “consider it done.” Navarro’s team subsequently pressured the Federal Emergency Management Agency to finalize an updated version of the contract within a week.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the subcommittee chairman, on Wednesday urged Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other senior officials to release further information about Navarro’s arrangements.