I am a Disabled Veteran, AF 1965-1971, and been in the VA system since 1974.
An investigation has found, there are Secret Masters of the Government, pulling the strings without the Benefit of an Election, Nomination, or Appointment. President Trump handed off Control of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to Three Members of his Mar-a-Lago Golf Tesort. These Three have been Issuing Orders to the People who are supposed to be Running the Department forming a “previously unknown triumvirate that hovered over public servants without any transparency, accountability or oversight.”
Known within the VA as “the Mar-a-Lago Crowd,” the Three were: Marvel Entertainment Chair Ike Perlmutter, New York Attorney Marc Sherman, and Bruce Moskowitz a Concierge” Doctor who runs a Service Catering to the Palm Beach Elite.
What Reporter Isaac Arnsdorf of Pro Publica's Investigation has discovered, through Interviews and Thousands of Documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, is that these Three have been ordering Members of the VA around for over a year. At the beginning of the year, Trump’s Appointment of Ronny Jackson, the Doctor who had proclaimed that Trump has “great genes,” as the VA Secretary ran into Issues when Reports of both Abuse and Incompetence surfaced around Jackson. After leaving the position Vacant for month, Trump finally Nominated Acting Director Robert Wilkie in May. But as it turns out, little of that maneuvering matters. Because when Trump wants to talk to the Man in Charge, he calls Perlmutter.
The Documents turned up by Pro Publica Inc. don’t just show Perlmutter issuing Orders to VA, but Reviewing Policy, and making Personnel Selections. VA Officials, at Taxpayer Expense, traveled to Mar-a-Lago to “consult” with Perlmutter and get his Approval. “Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,” a former Administration Official said.
It was Perlmutter who put together the “Troika” now Running the VA. Of the other Two, at least Moskowitz is a Doctor, and while his Specialty of finding Pricey Experts to Pay House Calls on nervous Palm Beach Millionaires may be miles away from providing Service for Millions of Veterans, at least it’s Health Care Adjacent. Sherman is a Lawyer who specializes in White Collar Crime. As in, Defending those Accused of it.
The Troika has been in place from the Beginning of Trump’s time in Office. With former VA Chief David Shulkin forced to Fly down to Mar-a-Lago for his Ring-Kissing in February of 2017. Moscowitz then nicely informed Shulkin that he didn’t have to make a Monthly Appearance before the Three actual Heads of his Agency. Instead, they would “set up phone conference calls at a convenient time.”
All those Stories about how Shulkin was resisting implementing Trump’s Policies, really boil down to his growing reluctance to take Orders from the Secret Masters of his Agency, who were Ruling on the Lives of Wounded and Ailing Veterans between tee times. And they didn’t hesitate to bypass Shulkin.
The Mar-a-Lago Crowd bombarded VA Officials with Demands, many of them Inapt or Unhelpful. On Phone Calls with VA Officials, Perlmutter would bark at them to move faster, having no patience for Bureaucratic Explanations about why something has to be done a certain way or take a certain amount of time, former Officials said.
Much of what the Troika kicked off seemed to be generated by Hearsay, Antecedents picked up from TV, and Cases mentioned by Friends. That included one example Perlmutter was particularly keen on that Originated with ... the Woman in Charge of the Disputed Tennis Court.
This has to Stop!
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