The Palm Beach Post

White House: We didn’t OK $300M contract

- By Michael Biesecker and Matthew Daly

WASHINGTON — The Trump administra­tion scrambled Friday to distance itself from the decision to award a $300 million contract to help restore Puerto Rico’s power grid to a tiny Montana company from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown.

The White House said federal officials played no role in the selection of Whitefish Energy Holdings by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

The administra­tion disavowed the contract amid a growing number of investigat­ions and a bipartisan chorus of criticism from Capitol Hill.

Trump spokeswoma­n Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Zinke had given the president his personal assurance that he had nothing to do with what she described as “a state and local decision made by the Puerto Rican authoritie­s and not the federal government.”

The interior secretary also

issued a fiery denial on Twitter, saying “Only in elitist Washington, D.C., would being from a small town be considered a crime.”

Whitefish Energy Holdings is headquarte­red in Whitefish, Mont., which has a population of about 7,200. Zinke, a former Montana congressma­n, knows Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski. Zinke’s son also had a summer job at a Whitefish constructi­on site.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with Whitefish Energy receiving a contract in Puerto Rico,” said Zinke in a statement linked to a tweet. “Any attempts by the dishonest media or political opera- tives to tie me to awarding or influencin­g any contract involving Whitefish are completely baseless.”

Zinke acknowledg­ed that after the company’s initial contract was awarded, he was contacted by the company, though he did not give the name of the individual who reached out to him. Zinke said he took no action and that all relevant docu- ments would be disclosed to “appropriat­e officials.”

“I welcome any and all investigat­ions into these allegation­s,” Zinke said.

The Department of Home- land Security’s inspector general, an agency watchdog, confirmed Friday that federal auditors will review the Whitefish contract.

“As part of their standard procedure, they will conduct vetting to look for the pres- ence of any inappropri­ate relationsh­ips,” said Arlen Morales, a spokeswoma­n for the inspector general’s office.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of Homeland Secu- rity, said it has not approved any reimbursem­ent requests from the utility for money to cover ongoing repairs to the island’s power grid following Hurricane Maria.

FEMA said in a statement that any language in the controvers­ial contract saying the agency approved of the deal with Whitefish is inaccurate. The contract said the utility would not pay costs unal- lowable under FEMA grants, but it also said, “The federal government is not a party to this contract.”

The agency said its initial review raised significan­t con- cerns about how Whitefish got the deal and whether the contracted prices were reasonable. The 2-year-old company had just two fulltime employees when the storm hit Sept. 20. It has since hired more than 300 workers.

A price list attached to the Whitefish contract reviewed by The Associated Press sets rates for both workers and equipment to be paid by the utility: $20,277 an hour for a heavy lift Chinook helicop- ter, $650 an hour for a large crane truck, $322 an hour for a foreman of a power line crew, $319 an hour for a journeyman lineman and $286 an hour for a mechanic. Each worker also gets a daily allowance of $80 for food, $332 for a hotel room and $1,000 for each flight to or from the mainland.

Multiple congressio­nal committees have opened investigat­ions into the deal, the terms of which have trig- gered questions from both Republican­s and Democrats. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, senior Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government­al Affairs Committee, said the Whitefish contract “raises every red flag in the book.”

Democrats also raised questions about the role of HBC Investment­s, a key financial backer of Whitefish Energy.

The Dallas-based compa- ny’s founder and general partner, Joe Colonnetta, has contribute­d thousands of dollars to Trump and other Republican­s, including Energy Secretary Rick Perry, a former Texas governor, and Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. Colonnetta also gave to Trump’s inaugurati­on.

A Whitefish spokesman called Colonnetta’s political donations “irrelevant.” “If one of the investors supported President Trump, that has nothing to do with anything,” spokesman Chris Chiames said.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Director Ricardo Ramos has praised the work performed by Whitefish so far, saying the company’s was the only offer the utility received that did not require a down payment. The power company is $9 billion in debt and was already struggling to provide service amid ongoing power outages before hurricanes Irma and Maria hit last month.

“There is nothing illegal going on here,” Ramos said Thursday.

About 75 percent of the U.S. territory remains without power more than a month after the Category 4 storm made landfall.

Puerto Rico Public Affairs Secretary Ramon Rosario told reporters on Friday he wasn’t familiar with the contract’s details.

 ?? RAMON ESPINOSA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Whitefish Energy Holdings workers restore power lines damaged by Hurricane Maria in Barcelonet­a, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 15. The contract awarded to the small Montana company in being questioned on Capitol Hill.
RAMON ESPINOSA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Whitefish Energy Holdings workers restore power lines damaged by Hurricane Maria in Barcelonet­a, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 15. The contract awarded to the small Montana company in being questioned on Capitol Hill.
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