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href="https://splinternews.com/the-stories-of-femas-scandalous-errors-in-puerto-rico-k-1822773964">https://splinternews.com/the-stories-of-femas-scandalous-errors-in-puerto-rico-k-1822773964</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">The Stories of FEMA's Scandalous Errors in
Puerto Rico Keep Getting Worse</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">Jorge Rivas - February
6, 2018<br>
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<div class="main__content js_main__content">Four months
after <a
href="https://splinternews.com/puerto-rico-is-still-fighting-to-regain-electricity-122-1822313286"
rel="nofollow">Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico</a>,
we’re finally getting a clearer look into some of the
most scandalous parts of the American response to the
tragedy.
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<p>On Tuesday, <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/us/fema-contract-puerto-rico.html?smid=tw-share&mtrref=t.co"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">a<em> New
York Times </em>exposé</a> revealed the
decision by FEMA to award one of its largest
Puerto Rican recovery contracts to an Atlanta
entrepreneur named <a
href="https://twitter.com/drtiffanybrown"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tiffany Brown</a>.
Her company, Tribute Contracting LLC, had no
employees and no experience in large-scale
disaster relief.</p>
<p>Brown identifies herself on <a
href="https://twitter.com/drtiffanybrown"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">her Twitter
profile</a> as “Diva, Mogul, Author, [and]
Idealist with scars to prove it.” Her <a
href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9W6tKRMLb8gJ:www.tiffanycbrown.com/about-me/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us"
target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>
has tips on makeup, fashion, and interior
design. She also has at least five canceled
government contracts in her past, according to
<em>The Times. </em>Somehow, none of this
appeared to be an issue with FEMA.</p>
<p>On October 3, 2017, FEMA officials awarded a
contract valued at $155,982,000 to Tribute to
deliver 30 million emergency meals to Puerto
Rico, according to<a
href="https://democrats-oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/democrats-demand-subpoena-for-trump-administration-s-hurricane-response"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"> the House
Committee on Oversight</a>. Brown apparently
started by hiring a wedding caterer in Atlanta
with a staff of 11 to freeze-dry various kinds
of soup, according to <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/us/fema-contract-puerto-rico.html?smid=tw-share&mtrref=t.co"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The
Times.</em></a></p>
<p>By the time the first 18,500,000 meals were
due, Brown’s business had delivered only
50,000. That’s 0.27 percent of the total meals
she was contracted to deliver. And to make
matters worse, the food her company delivered
was not properly packed. FEMA’s solicitation
required “self-heating meals,” but Tribute
delivered food “packaged separately from the
pouches used to heat them,” according to <em>The
Times</em>.</p>
<p>FEMA terminated the contract with Brown’s
company, citing a “a logistical nightmare,”
according to an email reviewed by <em>The
Times. </em>Brown insisted she could have
delivered the 30 million meals, though <em>The
Times </em>said that was unlikely. Now,
Brown wants FEMA to pay her a settlement of at
least $70 million so she can pay the
subcontractors she hired to supply the food.</p>
<p>FEMA did not provide any comment to <em>The
Times</em> because the contract is pending
an appeal.</p>
<p><em>The New York Times</em> exposé sounds
eerily familiar to an investigation<em> <br>
</em><a
href="https://www.apnews.com/cbeff1a939324610b7a02b88f30eafbb"
target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The
Associated Press </em>published in
November</a>. That report revealed that FEMA
gave a new Florida company $30 million in
contracts to provide 500,000 tarps and 60,000
rolls of plastic sheeting. The company never
delivered those urgently needed supplies. It’s
also similar to the <a
href="https://splinternews.com/whitefish-energys-contract-with-puerto-rico-looks-aston-1819910416"
rel="nofollow">scandal over the contract
Puerto Rico’s energy company signed with
Whitefish Energy</a>, a tiny Montana firm
with close ties to the Trump administration
and little experience with large-scale
power-outages.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, close to<a
href="https://splinternews.com/puerto-rico-is-still-fighting-to-regain-electricity-122-1822313286#_ga=2.216052245.2057505483.1517843330-2065141441.1512510988"
rel="nofollow"> 40 percent of Puerto Rico is
still without power,</a> four months after
Hurricane Maria, and FEMA has <a
href="https://splinternews.com/theres-a-new-chapter-in-americas-shameful-abandonment-o-1822539780"
rel="nofollow">pulled out of the island
completely</a>.</p>
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