ACCOUNTABLE USA: Covid funds
To understand just how insufficient the new stimulus bill is, consider the latest devastating jobs report from December. Following a deeply disappointing November report, this month’s numbers revealed that more than 1.5 million Americans filed for unemployment in just the past two weeks. Millions more Americans have been unemployed for months, and are heading into the holidays with thousands in debt. See our full statement here.
- As Congress prepares to inject close to another trillion dollars into the economy, Accountable.US continues to find new instances of CARES Act funds being used and abused by the wealthy and well-connected. You can stay up to date on how federal funds are distributed by checking out our COVID Bailout Tracker.
- Newly unearthed recipients of CARES Act dollars include vendors who were paid millions by President Trump’s reelection campaign, right-wing organizations that spoke out against pandemic relief aid, and celebrities like Jay-Z and the Olsen twins. Read the full report here.
- In spite of clear evidence of abuse, the new stimulus package approved by Congress includes no new oversight for SBA and PPP loans. In fact, Trump treasury officials went so far as to publish a misleading op-ed in the Wall Street Journal touting the success of these programs. To separate fact from fiction, we fact-checked the op-ed.
- Pharma Update:
- Reports indicate that several European countries have secured the COVID-19 vaccine at a lower price than America did. It appears that Operation Warp Speed — which invested heavily in vaccine programs — failed to negotiate a better deal for patients and taxpayers. Read our full statement here.
Recent Reports & Analyses
- NEW REPORT: President Trump’s 9-Month Campaign To Politicize COVID Science & Pressure Public Health Experts. Accountable Pharma released a new report highlighting the past nine months of COVID-19 politicization, misinformation, pressure, and intimidation of career scientists by President Trump and his political appointees.
- NEW REPORT: Massive Vaccine Development Profiteering at Five Top Drug Companies; Over $145 Million Pocketed By Executives Since Start of Operation Warp Speed. Accountable Pharma released a new report revealing that top executives and directors at five top drug companies receiving billions of taxpayer dollars through Operation Warp Speed have made more than $145 million cashing out their stock options since the launch of Operation Warp Speed on May 15th, 2020.
- Before $765M Deal, Kodak Spent Millions on Trump’s TV Gig. New reporting in the Daily Beast revealed that despite President Trump’s effort to distance himself from Eastman Kodak Co.’s recent $765 million deal with the government to produce drugs in the U.S., Trump’s relationship with the company spans back to his reality TV days — where the company spent millions advertising on President Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” show.
- REPORT: Operation Warp Speed at Two Months: $4 Billion for Drug Companies, Zero Assurances for Patients and Taxpayers. New report marking two months since the formal launch of the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed highlights how the Trump Administration has shrouded the program in secrecy, refused to release the contracts between the government and the drug companies, and won’t tell taxpayers and patients what kind of assurances they received, if any, that vaccines developed with taxpayer support will be affordable and accessible for every American.
- ANALYSIS: Gilead Hands Shareholders Over $2 Billion While Shamelessly Profiteering From Taxpayer-Funded COVID-19 Drug. Analysis by Patients Over Pharma demonstrated how Gilead Sciences paid its shareholders billions due to a jump in stocks as a result of its COVID-19 drug treatment remdesivir, a therapeutic developed with taxpayer dollars.