Trump's Mar-a-Lago cronies under investigation for shady work at VA

Over the summer, ProPublica discovered that Trump was outsourcing some control over the VA to a small cadre of cronies from his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Now, a government watchdog is going to dig in and find out more about one of Trump’s many scandals.

“The Government Accountability Office will investigate whether members of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida, improperly influenced the Department of Veterans Affairs, including over a $10 billion contract to modernize veterans’ health records,” reports Politico.

The investigation was requested by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI), who were dismayed at learning that three rich men — with no experience and no actual authority — were secretly making decisions that impacted thousands of veterans.

The three men — Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, Palm Beach doctor Bruce Moskowitz, and lawyer Marc Sherman — were known in the Department of Veterans Affairs as the “Mar-a-Lago Crowd.” The men exerted “sweeping influence” over the VA, according to ProPublica.

In their letter to the GAO, Warren and Schatz wrote that “membership in President Trump’s private club should not give any individual the right to exert influence on decisions made by the VA that impact the over nine million veterans under its care.”

Of course, a complicit Republican Congress refused to lift a finger conduct any serious investigate, just one of numerous examples of Republicans playing the role of pliant lapdog to Trump’s culture of corruption.

When Democrats on the House Veterans Affairs Committee demanded documents related to from VA secretary Robert Wilkie, he refused to hand them over.

“This just reeks of corruption,” Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN), ranking Democrat on the committee, said in October.

After sweeping victories in the midterm elections, Democrats will gain control of not only the House Veterans Affairs Committee, but all the committees.

Beginning in 2019, the Trump administration will no longer have a Republican majority to hide behind. The White House is already hiring more lawyers, since House Republicans won’t be able to cover up unethical or illegal behavior any longer.

From Mar-a-Lago to the White House, Trump’s culture of corruption is about to face cleansing sunshine, thanks to Democrats.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.