A watchdog group referred to as for an investigation into Paycheck Safety Program loans to corporations with connections to members of President Trump’s cupboard.
The PPP was a part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act handed by Congress this spring in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This system, which distributed forgivable loans to small companies to cowl payroll and different bills, helped numerous companies keep afloat and saved thousands and thousands of jobs. It has additionally drawn criticism after enterprise house owners alleged that banks prioritized massive present shoppers over struggling small corporations, creating issue for small enterprise house owners in accessing assist whereas many corporations with ties to Trump and his administration acquired intensive funding.
Corporations linked to at the very least six members of Trump’s cupboard acquired PPP loans, prompting requires an investigation.
“These sweetheart loans to corporations with inside entry to the administration needs to be investigated to make sure the individuals’s cash is spent responsibly,” Chris Saeger, a spokesperson for the progressive watchdog group Accountable.US., mentioned in an announcement to Salon.
Among the many cupboard members linked to corporations that acquired PPP loans is Jovita Carranza, the top of the Small Enterprise Administration — who’s overseeing this system.
Carranza beforehand served on the board of trustees at Alverno Faculty in Milwaukee and chaired the faculty’s Faculty of Enterprise Council. The college acquired a PPP loan worth between $2 million and $5 million in April, as small enterprise struggled to entry funds earlier than the primary spherical of funding shortly dried up. The Hugh O’Brian Youth Management Basis, a nonprofit that beforehand gave Carranza a management award, additionally acquired a PPP loan between $150,000 and $350,000.
The Foremost Group, the household firm of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao — who’s married to Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell — acquired a PPP loan between $350,000 and $1 million in April.
Perdue Inc., the corporate based by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, acquired a PPP loan between $150,000 and $350,000 in April.
Comstat Inc., a former consumer of Power Secretary Dan Brouillette, acquired a PPP loan between $5 million and $10 million in April.
Former shoppers of Inside Secretary David Bernhardt, a longtime power lobbyist, additionally acquired large loans. Nuclear Fuels Working Group, a former consumer, acquired a PPP loan worth greater than $890,000 in April. Samson Assets, one other former consumer, acquired a PPP loan worth between $1 million and $2 million.
Martin Farms, a former consumer of longtime lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, who now heads the Environmental Safety Company, acquired a PPP loan worth between $150,000 and $350,000 in April.
Purchasers of Wheeler’s former agency, Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting, additionally acquired quite a few loans. The Immune Deficiency Basis, which was a consumer till January, acquired a PPP loan between $350,000 and $1,000,000 in April. The COPD Basis, which was additionally a consumer of the agency till January, acquired a PPP loan between $150,000 and $350,000 in May. The American Telemedicine Affiliation, a consumer of the agency, acquired a PPP loan worth between $150,000 and $350,000 in June.
Together with the six cupboard members with hyperlinks to corporations that acquired PPP loans, appearing Homeland Safety Secretary Chad Wolf beforehand lobbied on behalf of American Airways, which acquired $four billion in grants and $1.7 billion in loans as a part of the Payroll Help Program, which bailed out the airline business.
A number of shoppers of Wolf’s former agency, Wexler & Walker, additionally acquired PPP loans worth as much as $1 million, together with the Nationwide Federation of State Excessive Faculty Associations and United Applied sciences.
Many Trump associates have acquired PPP loans as properly.
Salon’s Roger Sollenberger reported earlier this week {that a} mysterious payroll firm owned by Trump legal professional Rudy Giuliani may have dedicated fraud when it acquired a PPP loan worth between $150,000 and $350,000.
ProPublica reported in July that Trump’s household and associates stand to obtain as much as $21 million in coronavirus assist, together with corporations linked to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“This seems to be yet one more instance,” Saeger informed Salon, “of the administration additional flooding the swamp they promised to empty.”
