The Defense Department’s inspector general will review the $400 million border wall contract awarded to a North Dakota company Donald Trump had personally promoted. The move comes after Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, called for an investigation because the company’s “proposals reportedly did not meet the operational requirements of U.S. Customs and Border Protection” and due to “concerns about the possibility of inappropriate influence.”
”In your letter, you raised concerns about the possibility of inappropriate influence on USACE's contracting decision, and questioned whether the bid submitted by Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. met solicitation standards. You also questioned whether USACE made the award in accordance with federal procurement law and regulations,” the principal deputy inspector general wrote in a letter to Thompson, NBC News reports. “In response to your request, we have decided to initiate an audit of the solicitation and award of this contract.”
The company, Fisher Sand & Gravel, has been promoted by North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer and has built a privately funded border wall on private property. Fisher promised to deliver its wall segments at a much lower cost than other companies, but it was also proposing a concrete wall, a design that border agents have pushed back against because they want to be able to see through any border barrier.
Trump has been pushing for Fisher to get border contracts since 2018, and at one point, a person “familiar with the conversations” told NBC News, “We had to explain the rules of federal procurement. You can't just pick a winner.” But after more than a year of pressure from Trump, it appears he did manage to just pick a winner—which is why the inspector general needs to look into whether Trump exerted inappropriate influence on the Army Corps of Engineers. Once again, Trump’s wish to be a dictator is exposing just how fragile American democratic norms and institutions are.
