Michigan Governor Whitmer Awards Coronavirus Contract to Dem Consulting Firm

[Right_in_Virginia]

Michigan Governor Whitmer Awards Coronavirus Contract to Dem Consulting Firm
NGP Van will aid state in massive contact-tracing operation
Washington Free Beacon, Apr 21, 2020

Michigan Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer has handed over control of the state’s new contact-tracing operation to one of her own campaign vendors and one of the left’s biggest technology firms. The move has sparked concern that she is using the coronavirus to strengthen the Democratic Party’s data operation, potentially at the expense of public health.

The Whitmer administration announced Monday that it had awarded a contract for contact tracing in the state to Every Action VAN, an arm of the Democratic data behemoth NGP VAN. The liberal firm works with all of the major Democratic campaign committees and hundreds of labor unions across the country, according to its website, and will "help organize remote phone banking and track information and contacts" for Michigan, a state press release said.

The group is run by Stuart Trevelyan, a longtime Democratic campaign operative who worked in the Clinton White House and is currently assisting presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign with voter outreach and fundraising, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Whitmer’s own gubernatorial campaign paid NGP VAN nearly $5,000 in 2019, according to state campaign finance records. Every Action is a branch of the firm that works with nonprofit organizations.

States across the country have begun contact tracing operations in the hope that wide-scale interviews will unlock crucial information and prevent additional infections. But Whitmer appears to be the first governor to employ a group that typically focuses on politics to help with the task. In Massachusetts, Republican governor Charlie Baker has partnered with the health care nonprofit Partners in Health to conduct contract tracing and track diseases across the globe.


More:  https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/michigan-governor-whitmer-awards-coronavirus-contract-to-dem-consulting-firm/

[Right_in_Virginia]

This contact tracing does not please me .... period.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Facing Criticism, Whitmer Rescinds Contract Awarded to Dem Consulting Firm
Washington Free Beacon, Apr 21, 2020

Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan announced late Tuesday that the state was rescinding a contract to track the spread of the coronavirus that she had awarded to a Democratic consulting firm, according to Crain's Detroit.

The organization, Great Lakes Community Engagement, is run by Democratic political consultant Mike Kolehouse, who planned to use a software vendor affiliated with a Democratic data firm that is working for the governor's reelection campaign. Whitmer's decision to hire Democratic political operatives to run a public health project sparked immediate backlash, the Washington Free Beacon reported just hours before Whitmer's office said she had terminated the contract.

Kolehouse is the owner of K2K Consulting, an umbrella organization tied to both Great Lakes Community Engagement and Kolehouse Strategies. Both have done extensive field work for Democratic causes. Kolehouse in turn retained as a partner in the contract-tracing operation an arm of the Democratic consulting firm NGP VAN, which is currently working with Whitmer's reelection campaign. NGP VAN said it had not been contracted by the state but declined further comment.

Republicans and the news media began raising questions about the contracts after they were announced in a press release Monday evening, pressing the governor about why Democratic political operatives were hired to run a massive public health project. Some expressed concern that the Democratic firms would appropriate the personal data of Michigan residents for political gain, a charge they denied.

The press release came from the State Emergency Operations Center, though a spokeswoman for the governor told the Free Beacon after publication that the organization had not approved the contract and that the organization would select the subsequent vendor for the contact tracing project.

"This contract should have been approved by the State Emergency Operations Center. This issue is being corrected, and a different vendor and software platform will be selected by the SEOC," the spokeswoman said. "The state is committed to ensuring this important tracing work can begin quickly to help save lives, while also ensuring that public health data is safe and secure."


https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/facing-criticism-whitmer-rescinds-contract-awarded-to-dem-consulting-firm/

[Cyber Liberty]

Tucker Carlson threw some light on this last night.

[Fishrrman]

Award.
Cancellation.
That didn't take long...!

[Cyber Liberty]

Award.
Cancellation.
That didn't take long...!

Sunlight is a bitch of a disinfectant.