Posted on 10/31/2017 10:47:41 AM PDT by drewh
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a decision by Puerto Ricos power authority to award a $300 million contract to a tiny Montana energy firm to rebuild electrical infrastructure damaged in Hurricane Maria, according to people familiar with the matter.
Agents from the FBIs San Juan field office are looking into circumstances surrounding the deal that the public power monopoly known as Prepa signed with Whitefish Energy Holdings LLC, according to the people familiar with the matter.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Puerto Rico is $74 Billion in debt, WhiteFish asked for very little money upfront - Puerto Rico was probably planning on stiffing whiteFish
Why would the FBI be investigating this?
The news said Whitefish only has two actual employees. This could take awhile.
Who do they blame when they can't get skilled workers to get the job done? In the case of Puerto Rico, you can't fix stupid.
> Does it look like the Whitefish company is skilled at working on power lines in mountainous regions? <
Okay. But is Whitefish so skilled that a no-bid contract was the only way to go?
> Does it look like most corrupt politicians worldwide are trying to take political shots at the Trump Administration? <
Yep. But there is no need to make it easy for them.
Permit me to say again that I am not commenting on the legality of hiring Whitefish. You and I, we have confidence in Trump. But consider Joe Six-Pack, the somewhat conservative guy who’s a registered Democrat mainly because his grandfather was a registered Democrat.
Joe Six-Pack voted for Trump in 2016 because Joe was tired of the DC corruption. Joe wanted to see the swamp drained. This Whitefish deal will look bad to Joe. Maybe this deal is best for Puerto Rico. But Joe won’t like it one bit. And he might remember it come 2020.
That’s all I’m saying.
“But Joe wont like it one bit. And he might remember it come 2020.”
Straight from the anti-Trump strategy plan.
What this whole thing looks like is the democrats’ attempts to make political gains are really only going to delay Puerto Rico’s recovery.
How will that look for 2020?
If you pay attention, you’ll see the mayor of San Juan has been working in lockstep with the democrats to exploit Hurricane Maria for political gain.
The mayor has been critical of the contract with the Whitefish company. Normal people should be critical of her for working against the interests of her own people in a time of great crisis.
> Straight from the anti-Trump strategy plan. <
If I’m reading that right, yes, I agree with you. We all know the media wants to take Trump down. And many of the GOP elite want that as well. Come 2020 they will remind the average voter of this Whitefish deal.
As I noted earlier, why make it easy for them?
> What this whole thing looks like is the democrats attempts to make political gains are really only going to delay Puerto Ricos recovery. <
You and I can see that. But the average middle-of-the-road voter will probably not reach that conclusion. Maybe I’m wrong. But that’s the way I see it.
(I’m off to buy some last-minute Halloween candy now. So you can have the last word if you wish. It has been an interesting conversation!)
Standard operating procedure to hire sub contractors for large jobs that are NOT steady maintenance jobs.
:Look at the construction companies that worked on rebuilding earthquake damage in San Fran & Los Angeles in the past.
I know that but not many two person operations get a $300 million contract.
I think his enemies hope they can use this to hurt Trump, but I don’t think it really can.
To the contrary, I think it could backfire on them, especially if Puerto Ricans find out the PNP and the democrats have been trying to use the hurricane damage as a political tool.
300 million dollars doesn’t go very far in a power generation project.
Hasn’t Whitefish been on the ground working the contract already? Have they been performing? A small office in Montana can be running large operations elsewhere. I recall a small headquarters office in a Midwest run a dozen construction sites throughout the south - successfully.
#5 Nevada GeothermalEmail,
July 5, 2012
Nevada geothermal company that received $98 million loan guarantee is failing By Rick Moran
The idiocy of these loan guarantees continues to be exposed. Nevada Geothermal Power (NGP) was bleeding money even when the government stepped in with the loan guarantee. And yet, Senator Harry Reid approved of the loan guarantee, saying that Nevada was set to become “the Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy.” Energy Secretary Chu also gave NGP a thumbs up. The problem, is that the company has been in serious financial trouble for years.
This looks a lot like standard politics, business as usual in Puerto Rico. A government monopoly contracts with an unknown company, expecting kickbacks in return. Isn’t that how things get done in socialist hellholes?
As for how Zinke figures into this, one can only imagine. How would PREPA know Whitefish existed unless someone suggested them? Did Whitefish contact PREPA or did someone else suggest them, possibly Zinke?
“FBI Probing Puerto Rico Power Contract (Whitefish Energy)”
Oh good..Don Knotts is on the case.
Great analysis. Thanks!
exactly! especially Soyndria
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