Emails show Veterans Affairs officials' scorn for 'Mar-a-Lago 3' [View all]
Source: Politico
Emails from senior Veterans Affair staff released Thursday reveal the frustration and scorn they felt at having to deal with the intrusion of three wealthy members of President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago club in the agencys plans to create a new digital health platform.
The 2017 and 2018 emails, which Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show the outsized influence of the Mar-a-Lago members, Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter, attorney Marc Sherman and internist Bruce Moskowitz.
The emails reveal how senior staff responded to what they saw as unhelpful meddling in their work. Essentially, they humored the three Trump friends while ignoring their advice, which they considered misinformed and potentially disruptive to veteran health care.
In one email, project head John Windom describes a meeting with the three as a grin and bear it session. Another calls them "clearly out of their depth" in demanding changes in the department's 2018 EHR contract with Cerner that the officials felt were unreasonable.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/22/digital-health-platform-mar-a-lago-members-1676335