The Trump administration’s decision to award a Trump-tied business a $1.7 million no-bid contract to clean up the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool is renewing scrutiny over other deals inked by Trump officials with politically connected contractors.Federal spending records show that the National Park Service sought only one vendor, Greenwater Services, to install a water purification system in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool this spring. However, the newly renovated pool has since turned green again, due to algae blooms, instead of the intended “American flag Blue.”According to contracting details reported by the New York Times, longtime Trump supporter John Cafaro is the head of an investment trust that owns Greenwater Services. Cafaro, a top donor to President Donald Trump, is also one of the president’s neighbors near Mar-a-Lago. The Ohio-based water purification company listed Cafaro’s Palm Beach mansion as its corporate address in Florida.
Trump once called Cafaro “a fantastic man” who made “a lot of money in Cleveland” at a 2016 campaign stop in the swing state, though the Ohio businessman has two prior finance-related convictions. In 2001, Cafaro pled guilty to bribing a former Democratic congressman, and in 2010, Cafaro admitted to illegally funneling $10,000 to his daughter’s congressional campaign.The botched effort to beautify the Reflecting Pool is not the first dubious deal awarded under Trump involving influential Trumpworld actors and companies lacking a competitive edge.Federal procurement rules generally require competitive bidding to ensure government contracts are awarded fairly, transparently, and to service providers best suited for the job at optimal value for American taxpayers.But both the first and second Trump administrations have faced criticism over a series of questionable contracts and conflict-of-interest allegations surrounding past procurement awards.AirBoss Defense Group’s $96 million no-bid respirator contract
