Mar-a-Lago Crowd

The Mar-a-Lago Crowd, also Mar-a-Lago Three, was an informal council organized by US President Donald Trump which oversaw many of the activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Despite not holding any official position, the Mar-A-Lago Crowd were seen as key architects of the Administration's veterans policy.[1]

Mar-a-Lago Crowd
An aerial view of Mar-a-Lago where the Mar-A-Lago Crowd often meets
NicknameMar-a-Lago Three
TypeInformal council
Legal statusinactive
Membership
3

Members and naming

All three men were members of Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club.[2]

The name Mar-a-Lago Crowd was first published by ProPublica who reported that the name was in use by VA staffers.[2] The New York Times,[3] CNN,[4] Task & Purpose,[5] The Hill,[6] and Rolling Stone[7] (among others) have followed ProPublica's lead and also use the name Mar-A-Lago Crowd. The House Veterans Affairs committee referred to them as the "Mar-a-Lago Three"[8] as did Politico.[9]

Bruce Moskowitz

Bruce Moskowitz was a Palm Beach area family doctor, who never served in the U.S. military or government. Moskowitz's knowledge of government and technology was severely criticized by VA staffers.[10] A graduate of the University of Miami Moskowitz is a physician who, because of his Palm Beach location, has a number of "famous and powerful" patients.[11]

Isaac Perlmutter

Isaac Perlmutter was the chairman and CEO Emeritus of Marvel Entertainment.[10][12] and as a dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel, was an Israel veteran who served in the Israeli Six-Day War.

Marc Sherman

Marc Sherman was a lawyer[10] with the consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal specializing in fraud and white-collar crime, who never served in the U.S. government or the U.S. military.[3]

History

According to The New York Times the Mar-A-Lago Crowd got its start in 2016 when Ike Perlmutter offered to advise Donald Trump on veterans affairs. Perlmutter then recruited his personal physician, Bruce Moskowitz, who brought in his squash partner, Marc Sherman, to round out the threesome. None of the men had any experience in government or were US Military veterans.[3] In December 2016 Moskowitz and Sherman helped organize a meeting between Trump and Healthcare industry executives.[7]

The first accomplishment of the Mar-A-Lago Crowd was getting their preferred candidate, David Shulkin, named VA Secretary. They also personally approved his deputy Tom Bowman.[3] At the White House's request Moskowitz and Perlmutter were included on monthly conference calls with the contracting team responsible for overseeing a $16b contract to overhaul the Department's records system.[13] The Mar-A-Lago Crowd were in almost constant contact with Secretary, calling him several times a day including nights and weekends.[3][14]

In late 2017 the relationship between the Mar-A-Lago Crowd and Secretary Shulkin began to fray. Moskowitz objected strenuously to the award of a record system contract to Cerner because he had used a similar system by Cerner and disliked it. Shulkin ordered a review of the program but the Mar-A-Lago Crowd continued to press for its cancellation eventually forcing Shulkin to push it though behind their back. There was also disagreement between Shulkin and the Mar-A-Lago Crowd over the fundamental mission of the VA, Shulkin believed that the VA was the best possible solution to Veteran's unique health needs while the Mar-A-Lago Crowd wanted to privatize all services then offered through the VA. These disagreements led the Mar-A-Lago Crowd to believe they could no longer rely on Secretary Shulkin's compliance, led by Perlmutter the Crowd moved to have Shulkin, the deputy secretary, and the chief of staff removed. Shulkin appealed to White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly but to no avail as Kelly lacked any authority over the Mar-A-Lago Crowd. Shulkin was removed from office in March and Marc Sherman was present at the VA to greet Shulkin's replacement Robert L. Wilkie the next morning when he showed up to work.[3]

In August 2018 ProPublica broke the story about the Mar-A-Lago Crowd with an exposé.[2] The exposé analyses Department Emails from 2017 and 2018 obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington through freedom of information act requests. The Emails revealed frustration, derision, and fear among staffers at the Department with the actions of the Mar-A-Lago Crowd.[9] Soon after the exposé was published many Veteran's groups including the American Legion expressed their dissatisfaction with non-veteran non-government employees having influence over personnel and policy positions at the VA.[15]

In December 2018 senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, called on the Veterans Affairs inspector general to open an investigation into the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.[16]

VoteVets lawsuit

In 2018 the liberal Veteran's advocacy group VoteVets filed a lawsuit against the VA seeking to block the Mar-a-Lago Crowd from continuing to influence policy. The group alleged that VA officials had violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act by failing to record any of their meetings with the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.[17]

House Veterans’ Affairs Committee investigation

In February 2019 House Veterans’ Affairs Committee launched an investigation into the Mar-a-Lago Crowd's influence over the VA.[18][19] In particular the Committee seeks information about the use of private email accounts by the three to correspond with senior VA officials.[20] House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano has accused Secretary Robert Wilkie of "stonewalling" the congressional investigation into the Mar-a-Lago Crowd.[21]

See also

References
  1. Shane III, Leo. "VA won't turn over documents related to outside businessmen's influence on department policy". militarytimes.com. Military Times. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  2. Arnsdorf, Isaac. "The Shadow Rulers of the VA". propublica.org. ProPublica. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  3. Philipps, Dave. "Outside Influence: The Veterans Agency's Shadowy Leadership". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  4. Cohen, Zachary. "Mar-a-Lago allies touted direct line to Trump, Kushner at VA". cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  5. Bennet, George. "A Federal Watchdog Is Reviewing The Influence Of Mar-A-Lago Club Members On The VA". taskandpurpose.com. Task & Purpose. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  6. Gstalter, Morgan. "Veterans group sues to block advisers known as 'Mar-a-Lago Crowd' from influencing VA". thehill.com. The Hill. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  7. Kroll, Andy. "'Just Ridiculous': Trump's Mar-a-Lago Cronies Meddled in Veterans Affairs as Employees Seethed". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  8. "HOUSE VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO INFLUENCE OF MAR-A-LAGO "THREE" ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS". veterans.house.gov. US House of Representatives. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  9. Allen, Arthur. "Emails show Veterans Affairs officials' scorn for 'Mar-a-Lago 3'". politico.com. Politico. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  10. Cohen, Zachary. "VA staffers blasted 'ridiculous' meetings and questions with Trump allies in internal emails". cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  11. Ike, Swetlitz. "Trump's 'familiar with me': the doctor behind the president-elect's meeting with hospital CEOs". statnews.com. STAT.
  12. Gardner, Eriq (May 30, 2017). "Marvel's Ike Perlmutter, a Trump Friend, Hopes Homeland Security Helped Solve Bizarre Mystery". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  13. Allen, Arthur. "'Who the hell is this person?' Trump's Mar-a-Lago pal stymies VA project". politico.com. Politico. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  14. Slattery, Denis. "Trump 'Mar-a-Lago crowd' running VA from Florida, report says". seattletimes.com. Seattle Times. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  15. Sisk, Richard. "Democrats Decry Influence of 'Mar-a-Lago Crowd' on VA". military.com. Military.com. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  16. Corrigan, Jack. "Lawmakers Want IG to Dig into Trump's Mar-a-Lago Crowd". nextgov.com. Nextgov.
  17. Spitzer, Julie. "Veterans group sues to block Trump's 'Mar-a-Lago Crowd' from advising VA". beckershospitalreview.com. Beckers Hospital Review. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  18. McCausland, Phil. "House VA committee to probe Trump-connected individuals' influence over VA". nbcnews.com. NBC. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  19. Shane III, Leo. "House panel opens investigation into Trump's VA 'shadow rulers'". /www.militarytimes.com. Military Times. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  20. Kesling, Brian. "House Democrats to Probe How Trump's Associates Influenced the VA". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  21. Corrigan, Jack. "Lawmaker Scolds VA Chief for 'Stonewalling' Probe Into Trump's Mar-a-Lago Crowd". nextgov.com. Nextgov. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
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