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Items tagged with: Deloitte
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Kedric Payne, senior director of #ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign #Legal Center & fmr deputy chief #counsel in the Office of Congressional Ethics, adding that the goal was probably to pressure #Deloitte into firing the worker. “You can’t imagine that if one employee out of thousands made a statement that offended an official, that then the #government #contracts would be in jeopardy.”
#Deloitte declined to address questions about how it has handled the situation & whether Gallagher has been subject to any internal discipline.
“This individual shared private personal messages on his own volition without the knowledge of Deloitte, which is a non-partisan firm,” the company said in a stmnt. “Deloitte is deeply committed to supporting our government & commercial clients & we have a long track record of doing so across parties & administrations.”
…#Deloitte has a PAC that in recent elections has distributed its spending across candidates in both parties. So far in the 2024 cycle, it has given approximately $1.3M to #Republicans and $1.2M to #Democrats, the company said.
#Trump Jr., through a spox, responded to questions for this report w/a written statement calling a Post reporter a “scumbag” [classy] & asserting that there was nothing inappropriate about the social media posts targeting Deloitte’s contracts.
Over the following 11 months, the pair corresponded intermittently, mostly about politics & current events. In one early exchange, #JDVance asked Gallagher what he did for a living; Gallagher replied that he was a consultant who worked with investment managers. Otherwise Gallagher did not discuss his professional life in the messages, & at no point in the exchanges that were shared…Post did he identify #Deloitte as his employer or discuss his clients.
…#Deloitte probably would have a strong #legal case against efforts to revoke its federal #contracts because of Gallagher’s action, said Jessica Tillipman, associate dean for #government procurement #law studies at the George Washington Law School. Under govt procurement rules, only certain kinds of misconduct — such as fraud or tax evasion — can lead to a firm being barred from federal contracts, she said.
On Sept 27, Donald Trump Jr. exposed the employee’s name & photograph to millions of people on social media, writing, “Maybe it’s time for the #GOP to end #Deloitte’s taxpayer funded gravy train?” Others — including #JDVance’s chief spox & a #Republican senator — circulated Trump Jr.’s comments, & the *#conservative* website #Breitbart published a story naming the man & highlighting his job.
Deloitte receives ~$3B annually from federal agencies including the HHS & DOD.
#Trump allies threaten #Deloitte contracts after employee shares #JDVance chats
#Republicans backing Trump are threatening Deloitte, a consulting firm that is one of the federal #government’s largest business partners, with the loss of billions of dollars in contracts because an employee shared messages from 2020 in which JD Vance criticized the Trump’s record.
#ethics #law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/07/vance-messages-deloitte-retaliation/
Trump allies threaten Deloitte contracts after employee shares Vance chats
Republicans are targeting $3 billion in federal contracts because a consultant disclosed exchanges unconnected to his work to a reporter.Peter Jamison (The Washington Post)