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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump handed off the VA to three Mar-a-Lago fat cats who have been running it in secret
They have been running it with tax payer money. I see very little in the media about this. No outrage!!
Trump handed off the VA to three Mar-a-Lago fat cats who have been running it in secret
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/8/1786726/-Trump-handed-off-the-VA-to-three-Mar-a-lago-fat-cats-who-have-been-running-it-in-secret
Wednesday August 08, 2018 · 8:31 AM CDT
As it turns out, there are secret masters of the government, pulling the strings without the benefit of an election, nomination, or appointment. As a Propublica investigation has discovered, Donald Trump handed off control of the Department of Veterans Affairs to three members of his Mar-a-Lago golf resort. These three have been issuing orders to the people who are supposed to be running the department forming a previously unknown triumvirate that hovered over public servants without any transparency, accountability or oversight.
Known within the VA as the Mar-a-Lago Crowd, the three were Marvel Entertainment chair Ike Perlmutter, New York attorney Marc Sherman, and Bruce Moskowitz a concierge doctor who runs a service catering to the Palm Beach elite.
What reporter Isaac Arnsdorf discovered, through interviews and thousands of documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, is that these three have been ordering members of the VA around for over a year. At the beginning of the year, Trumps appointment of Ronny Jackson, the doctor who had proclaimed that Trump has great genes, as the VA secretary ran into issues when reports of both abuse and incompetence surfaced around Jackson. After leaving the position vacant for month, Trump finally nominated acting director Robert Wilkie in May. But as it turns out, little of that maneuvering matters. Because when Trump wants to talk to the man in charge, he calls Perlmutter.
The documents turned up by Pro Publica dont just show Perlmutter issuing orders to VA, but reviewing policy, and making personnel selections. VA officials, at taxpayer expense, traveled to Mar-a-Lago to consult with Perlmutter and get his approval.
Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring, a former administration official said.
If the idea that the chairman of Marvel Entertainment is running the VA makes it sound that there at least might be an injection of creativity into the agency, thats not this guy. Perlmutter mounted a series of hostile takeoversRevco, Coleco, Remingtonand gained control of Marvel during a series of buyouts and bankruptcies. He was paid $800 million by Disney when that company bought out Marvel, mostly to go away. The company was specifically split in half so that Perlmutter had nothing to do with the filmsbecause hes famously abusive and bigoted.
Perlmutter also has a history of behavior thats distinctly odd. That includes turning a fight with a neighbor over the condition of a private tennis courtsurely one of those issues that affects all Americansinto a hate mail campaign in which Perlmutter accused the neighbor of, among other things illegally harvesting his DNA. As the Hollywood Reporter explains, Perlmutter sent out unsigned mailings around the exclusive community attacking his neighbor, then turned his attention to the mans workplace, where he accused the neighbor of being a Nazi and covering up sexual assault. And then
Perlmutter really did show some creativity...............................................
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TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)Amaryllis
(9,525 posts)Takket
(21,634 posts)Amaryllis
(9,525 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)They are looking in all the wrong places. Maybe they should try right in front of their fucking faces the next time they slobber to one of his rallies.
malaise
(269,187 posts)Criminal madness