The Independent View: Company Under Investigation gets Almost $8 Million No-Bid Contract to Build 800 Feet of Border Wall

On April 15th, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published the Contracts and Modified Contracts they have with Third Party Companies. At the very Bottom of the Long List was a Modification to a Contract the DoD had with Fisher Sand & Gravel Company, Dickinson, North Dakota.

The Contract was for Border Wall work in Yuma, Arizona, “for approximately 800 linear feet of 30-foot bollard barrier, roads, drainage improvements, lighting, closed-circuit TV, Type A fiber optic cable and Type B fiber optic cable.” The work is scheduled to be done by the End of 2020. That 800 feet of Border Wall Fence will only cost $7,633,085.

This is the same Company that Trump kept Pushing on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers back in 2019. This is the same Company with Bids, Officials wrote the President, that “did not meet the operational requirements of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its prototype project came in late and over budget.”

This is the same Company that Ended-Up miraculously getting Awarded a $400 Million Contract to Build some of the Border Wall across an Arizona Wildlife Refuge. This is the same Company with the $400 Million Contract that prompted an Investigation by the Defense DoD’s Inspector General which is still ongoing.

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS, 2nd District) said "last time I checked, the inspector general has not yet determined if the December 2019 Fisher contract was properly awarded and the country is still facing a pandemic and largely under lockdown. The Army Corps should pause construction and contracting decisions until the investigation is complete and it is safe to resume non-essential construction projects. Army Corps resources should be put to better use responding to the coronavirus pandemic we are still facing."

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Buddy of Fisher, whose Campaign received a reported $10,000 from Fisher, Held-Up Confirmation of a White House Budget Official last summer. This was a Protest against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers perceived Snubbing of Fisher Industries.

Since Feb. 25th, 2020, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Warned that the Coronavirus was already here and we needed to begin figuring out ways to Mitigate the Virus and the Death Toll, the Army’s Engineering Arm has Awarded at least $1.3 billion in Wall Contracts.