The office of U.S. congressman Adam Kinzinger reached out to the White House last month with an urgent request: a business in his district in Illinois had located 13 million highly sought-after N95 respirator masks in Germany and wanted to know if officials were interested.
FILE PHOTO: Boxes of N95 protective masks for use by medical field personnel are seen at a New York State emergency operations incident command center during the coronavirus outbreak in New Rochelle, New York, U.S., March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
While Reuters and other news organizations have documented the intense competition for protective gear in the United States and around the world, FEMA’s battle to vet a deluge of leads - many from reputable sources including U.S. lawmakers - has gotten less attention. Kinzinger’s staff initially told the White House that SupplyCore Inc, a supply-chain management and logistics company in Rockford, Illinois, hoped to broker a deal to sell the masks to FEMA, according to three people familiar with the matter.
When SupplyCore pressed for access to the warehouse and photos of the gear, the seller would not agree unless the company committed to buying the masks. That was a red flag, Provenzano said. FEMA declined to move forward and SupplyCore also walked away from the deal, Provenzano added. “Frankly, it would be malpractice not to make an effort,” Kinzinger said. “If it happened to be real and we didn’t do anything, that would be the story.”The DHS official familiar with the matter said the deal stood out because the large quantity being offered did not make sense given the tight market.
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