Frank Sharry: “The border wall epitomizes Trump’s presidency: built on racism, corruption, lies, scandal and incompetence, it’s falling apart before our very eyes.”
“60 Minutes” ran a story on the border wall last night that featured bombshell revelations:
“Three former administration officials tell 60 Minutes that President Trump quote ‘pressured” government officials to direct wall contracts to Fisher Sand and Gravel.
Those same sources say that on March 7, 2019, the president summoned DHS officials and Lt. General Todd Semonite, who ran the Army Corps of Engineers, to the Oval Office. Sources inside the room say the president wanted to know why Tommy Fisher, who promised he could build the wall cheaper and faster, wasn’t selected to build it and ‘exploded into a tirade.’
They say DHS officials explained to the president that it was inappropriate for the president to influence the bidding process. But according to those sources, the ‘pressure continued’ with a handwritten note from the president, an email from his personal secretary and calls from his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.”
Tommy Fisher knew how to get to Trump. He appeared on Fox News regularly and spoke to an audience of one. He hooked up with North Dakota Republican Senator Kevin Cramer, who became his champion. He gave lots of money in campaign donations to Trump and Cramer to grease the skids.
Then he worked with Steve Bannon and Kris Kobach on the infamous “We Build the Wall” project – the one that has now resulted in multiple felony fraud charges. Fisher’s company built sections of the wall for this private fundraising scam that were indeed “cheaper and faster.” Due to poor planning and construction, Fisher’s wall sections are expected to crumble into the Rio Grande river any day now.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
Trump’s wall and this scandal captures so much of what’s wrong with his presidency.
It’s a stupid idea anchored in white grievance and rank racism. It’s carried out in defiance of majorities in both the Senate and the House who repeatedly voted against it. He’s relying on a bogus national emergency declaration meant for times of war to raid funds appropriated by Congress for real priorities – such as National Guard preparedness, FEMA emergency relief and support for military families.
He promised that Mexico would pay for the wall when U.S. taxpayers are paying, which, in light of yesterday’s New York Times revelations that Trump doesn’t really pay taxes means he’s not even contributing to this project as a taxpayer. Meanwhile, he continues to lie at his rallies that Mexico is paying for it. They are not.
And he’s interfered in the government contracting process to line the pockets of a donor and a crony with some $2 billion in border wall contracts – the same builder who built sections of the privately-funded border as part of a fraudulent scheme. It’s now clear that those wall sections are about to crumble into the Rio Grande river.
The border wall epitomizes Trump’s presidency: built on racism, corruption, lies, scandal and incompetence, it’s falling apart before our very eyes.
Read more from America’s Voice here on why the border wall embodies Trump’s presidency.
