Boy Blunder Jared Kushner’s incompetent coronavirus team treated Fox News' Brian Kilmeade, Jeanine Pirro, and other conservative media figures, as “VIPs” and fast-tracked their leads and requests for PPE.

The Washington Post did a deep dive into Kushner’s crony incompetence after it received a copy of a complaint filed last month with the House Oversight Committee.

The allegations, many of which the Post confirmed, are shocking, though not surprising:

The document alleges that the team responsible for PPE had little success in helping the government secure such equipment, in part because none of the team members had significant experience in health care, procurement or supply-chain operations. In addition, none of the volunteers had relationships with manufacturers or a clear understanding of customs requirements or Food and Drug Administration rules, according to the complaint and two senior administration officials.

Even in the midst of this life-and-death pandemic emergency, Fox News Trumpers are treated as trusted advisers, despite their own lack of relevant experience:

Supply-chain volunteers were instructed to fast-track protective equipment leads from “VIPs,” including conservative journalists friendly to the White House, according to the complaint and one senior administration official.

“Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade, for example, called two people he knew in the administration to pass along a lead about PPE in an effort to be helpful, said two people familiar with the outreach. Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro also repeatedly lobbied the administration for a specific New York hospital to receive a large quantity of masks, one of the people said.

Kilmeade and Pirro said they were not aware that their tips were being prioritized, a Fox News spokeswoman said.

Less than a week after Kushner declared the administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, “a great success story,” we learn about this epic Kushner fail:

Even as the volunteer group struggled to procure PPE, about 30 percent of “key supplies,” including masks, in the national stockpile of emergency medical equipment went toward standing up a separate Kushner-led effort to establish drive-through testing sites nationwide, according to a March internal planning document obtained by The Post and confirmed by one current and one former administration official. Kushner had originally promised thousands of testing sites, but only 78 materialized; the stockpile was used to supply 44 of those over five to 10 days, the document said. 

Oh, and their emails!

The team of volunteers focused on PPE had trouble developing manufacturer relationships and making inroads with brokers, in part because they were using personal email accounts, rather than official government email addresses, the House Oversight Committee complaint states. Three senior administration officials confirmed the volunteers’ use of personal email addresses.

The entire Washington Post article a must-read.

You can watch Kushner’s “Mission Accomplished” moment below, including his claim to be “very confident that we have all the testing we need to start opening the country.” It’s from the April 29, 2020 Fox & Friends.

(Kushner image via screen grab)