BREAKING: Rep. Joe Neguse DESTROYS Trump's Interior Secretary over his wasteful $13.1 million "renovations" to the Reflecting Pool — and reveals a stunning legal crack in MAGA's plans.
This vanity project might not get finished after all...
"Are you familiar with Atlantic Industrial Coatings?" the congressman asked during a hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
"I— I'm not— N— Familiar with that uh," said Burgum.
"So Atlantic Industrial Coatings is a company. Are you familiar with that company?" asked Neguse.
"You're saying— You're saying Atlantic?" managed Burgum.
"Atlantic Industrial Coatings, correct," said the congressman. "Are you familiar with it or?"
"I'm not familiar with Atlantic."
"Okay, Atlantic Industrial Coatings is the company that received a no-bid federal contract for the project at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool," explained Neguse. "Are you familiar with that now?"
"I'm familiar with that project, yes," said Burgum.
"But not the company?"
"Uh— Nuh— I wasn't familiar that— With that specific name of the company," said Burgum.
"Okay. You're familiar with the fact that a company received a no-bid contract to do the work on that project, correct?" asked Neguse.
"I'm— I'm familiar that we uh— That we're working on a project to, uh, restore, uh, the Reflecting Pool before the, uh, summer season with record attendance, yes," stammered Burgum.
"Yes, and that was through a no-bid $13 million contract, right?" pressed the congressman. "That's not up for debate. That's a fact."
"But I— I— I'm positive that we followed all of the required bidding rules, so you're— You're emphasizing the word no-bid like something nefarious has happened," said Burgum. "And I— I reject that thesis."
"Okay, then explain it to me," said Neguse. "Here, I'll ask you the question. My understanding of the federal procurement rules is that a no-bid contract is reserved for situations where 'any delay would cause serious injury to the government.' Your proposition is what? That there'd be serious injury to the government if this company didn't get the $13 million contract to do this particular project right now?"
"Well, I think we do have a sense of urgency, I mean, we got handed a record amount of deferred maintenance," said Burgum. "We had 19 fountains across the city that didn't work."
"That's a serious injury to the government!?" said an incredulous Neguse, biting back a laugh. "A serious injury to the government?"
"Well, I'm not— I'm not— I'm not a... I suppose a lawyer could decide that, but I think that maybe all of us could agree that we would want to have our nation's capital looking great for the 250th," Burgum said. "I mean, this is a common sense decision."
"I would say, just last question, who picked this company? Because President Trump, a few months ago, in a New York Times article, said, 'I have a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools. He looked at it. He called me up. He said, sir, we can do something on it.' Last night, he posted on Truth Social, also, 'I did not give out the contract, Interior did, to a contractor I did not know and have never used before.' So, Interior, he's talking about you. Did you give this $13 million no-bid contract to this company that's never done business with the federal government before?"
"The— The— The gentleman that you're talking about that has done, uh, construction work regarding pools and fountains for President Trump is not part of this contract," claimed Burgum. "He— He's just a citizen that cared about it and offered some free advice. There's nothing there there in terms of any dollars flowing to anybody that worked for President Trump."
Tellingly, Burgum offered no clarity on the actual bidding process. The reason is self-evident. This is the most corrupt administration in American history. Trump regularly hands out sweetheart deals and blatantly funnels our tax dollars into the pockets of his family members and cronies.
We'd bet good money that a look under the hood of this project would reveal rampant criminality. When Democrats get back into power, we must use our subpoena power to launch a full forensic audit.
In the meantime, Congressman Neguse has just pumped jet fuel into the lawsuits that are attempting to stop these hideous Reflecting Pool renovations. Clearly, the contract process was handled improperly because there was no actual threat of "serious injury" to the government.
The courts must step in and stop this project dead in its tracks!
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