Pentagon to review that sketchy border wall contract

The Defense Department's internal watchdog plans to review a recent Army Corps of Engineers decision to award a $400 million contract for border wall construction to a North Dakota company that has been publicly and privately endorsed by members of the Trump administration, including the president himself.

The review of the award to Fisher Sand & Gravel is an audit by the Pentagon's inspector general and comes in response to a request by Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Thompson said the decision to award the contract should be reviewed because Fisher's "proposals reportedly did not meet the operational requirements of U.S. Customs and Border Protection" and because of "concerns about the possibility of inappropriate influence" on the Army Corps of Engineers.

[...]

Fisher was officially awarded the contract Dec. 2. The details of its winning design are not known. Fisher did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Thompson's request for a review.

Border agents have repeatedly said they want the ability to see through any barrier built along the border, and the concrete design Fisher originally proposed would not give them that ability. There was also doubt that Fisher has the ability to carry through the project, especially at the low cost it has estimated.

[...]

"We had to explain the rules of federal procurement. You can't just pick a winner," said a person familiar with the conversations about Fisher with Trump in 2018. "He thought he could get three times the amount of wall because they were offering it for one-third of the price. But we were dubious."

[...]

For years and in recent meetings, the president has pushed the Army Corps of Engineers to consider awarding a contract for border wall construction to Fisher, according to three sources familiar with the discussions. And in a trip to the border in November, Trump's new acting secretary of homeland security and the chief of the Border Patrol's El Paso Sector toured a privately funded wall built by Fisher.

The renewed push for Fisher by Trump and DHS officials caught many by surprise, given the controversy in which the company has been entangled. The Washington Post first reported Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., held up the confirmation of a White House official in his demands to see border wall contracts that had gone out to other companies.

Officials feared Cramer was attempting to share proprietary information with Fisher so that they could make their bid more competitive. Cramer was a proponent of Fisher, a company from his home state, and had repeatedly made outreach on their behalf to the White House.

[...]

Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has also been a proponent of Fisher's and We Build the Wall in internal meetings, according to a former DHS official, a congressional aide and a U.S. official.

  NBC

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.