Daily Archives: August 19, 2020

S/ES Issues Action Memo For Ukraine/Burisma-Related Document Requests, Due August 28

August 19, 2020 By in EUR|Europe, Govt Documents, Hall of Shame, Politics, State Department, Trends, Trump Tags: , , , , ,

 

 

US Embassy Bamako Shelters in Place as Malian Soldiers Stage a Mutiny

August 19, 2020 By in AF |Africa, Foreign Affairs, Hotspots, Protests, Realities of the FS, Security, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,

 

The US Embassy in Mail issued a security alert on August 18 as unrest unfolded in the capital city of Bamako. Soldiers have reportedly detained the country’s president, as well as the prime minister and other top officials in an apparent coup attempt. The Malian president had since announced his resignation on TV.

Embassy Bamako issued a shelter in place order and suspended consular services on August 18. As of this writing it has not announced a resumption of services:

The U.S. Embassy is aware of gunfire and unrest in the area of Kati, as well as ongoing police/military operations in Bamako.  There have been multiple reports of gunfire throughout the city as well as reports of soldiers driving in trucks and firing their weapons in the air.  There are continued reports of demonstrators gathered at the Monument de l’Independance.  The U.S. recommends all U.S. citizens avoid these areas, if possible.  Likewise, the U.S. Embassy is recommending its staff to exercise caution, remain in doors,  and avoid non-essential travel.

The U.S. Embassy has taken the following additional steps in response to the ongoing security threats:

    • Consular services at the U.S. Embassy were suspended for August 18.
    • Personnel are recommended to remain indoors.
    • Employees have been advised to avoid any unnecessary travel until further notice and to be cautious when crossing the bridges.

 

@StateDept Spent Millions on AutoInjectors to Counteract Nerve Agent Exposure, Guess What Happened?

August 19, 2020 By in Congress, Contractors, Foreign Service, Functional Bureaus, MEDical, Realities of the FS, Spectacular, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,
WaPo’s Jon Swaine has an investigative piece on a $120 million State Department contract on a treatment for nerve agent poisoning. According to the report, WaPo has “obtained internal company records, reviewed emails from Emergent staffers and government officials, and interviewed nine people involved in making, selling or buying the Trobigard injectors.”
WARNING! This will get you mad.

“In June 2017, a director of regulatory affairs at the government contractor Emergent BioSolutions told colleagues that she objected to claims the company was making in a brochure for one of its newer products: a drug injector for victims of exposure to nerve agents.

“Functionality testing has not been successful in this device,” Brenda Wolling wrote in comments obtained by The Washington Post. Regarding a claim that the injector was designed to withstand “challenging operational and logistical conditions,” she wrote, “No testing ever conducted.” Even to describe the product as a “treatment of nerve agent poisoning,” Wolling wrote, “implies that we have efficacy data showing it works.”

Three months later, the Trump administration awarded Emergent a $20 million no-bid contract to supply those very injectors to the State Department. The firm later received a second contract, worth up to $100 million, to supply the agency with more of the injectors — sold under the name Trobigard — and related treatments.”

Apparently, the State Department told Emergent that it had obtained a legal opinion from the FDA’s general counsel saying the department could buy Trobigard for use by U.S. diplomats overseas, citing a company record. The report says, the company “has not sought approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — a circumstance that bars the product’s sale in the United States.”

“By September 2017, State Department officials were increasingly alarmed at chemical weapons use by the Syrian regime and the Islamic State and were anxious to boost protections for U.S. diplomats. The agency gave Emergent a one-year contract worth $20.5 million to supply auto-injectors. Under the deal, Emergent delivered 456,845 auto-injectors — enough to provide several for each of 58,000 Foreign Service officers and local employees overseas.

No bid competition was held, on the grounds that there was “unusual and compelling urgency” after Pfizer’s production halt, according to contract records. The injectors were needed to protect officials who “operate in countries with active and/or assumed chemical [redacted] programs,” the records show.
[…]
Emergent’s 2017 deal with the State Department entailed a sharp increase in spending by the department above earlier plans. In August 2015, the department had been preparing to pay Meridian $750,000 per year for five years to replace expiring devices, according to records of an abandoned deal.”

The company-funded study in the Netherlands tested the drugs on guinea pigs exposed to sarin gas. That’s right guinea pigs.

“Six weeks after the State Department signed the deal, Emergent’s first study of Trobigard’s drugs was completed. The company-funded study in the Netherlands tested the drugs on guinea pigs exposed to sarin gas and recorded positive findings. As they published their work in a scientific journal, the study’s authors warned that the results “cannot be directly extrapolated to the human situation.”

Can the embattled OIG still take this on as a special project? Can House Foreign Affairs (HFAC) or House Oversight Committee (HORC) take a look?

“In July, Emergent leaders ordered that Trobigard sales materials be scrapped and that the device be moved to a portion of the company’s website that lists products in development, the company confirmed. They also told staffer to make sure all future sales materials for Trobigard were approved by the company’s medical, legal and regulatory departments.

Emergent put together evidence that all injectors bought by the State Department were safe, former employees said. Government officials ultimately agreed. In September 2019, the State Department authorized the payment of a $10 million contract installment to Emergent.”

You need to read this in full. A State Department “no comment” is not acceptable.

Extracted data below from SAM.gov, the new fedbiz, with links to the contracts. Are there more that we’ve missed?

EMERGENT COUNTERMEASURES INTERNATIONAL LTD

  • Unique Entity ID (DUNS)220984617
  • CAGE CodeU1C03
  • AddressBUILDING 3, LONDON, W4 5YA

Registration

  • Expiration Date Jun 23, 2021
  • Purpose of Registration All Awards
  • Debt Subject to Offset  No

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Dominican Republic Gets a Pompeo Visit After Failed UN Vote

August 19, 2020 By in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, international organizations, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Reputation, Secretary of State, Spectacular, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, UN Tags: , , , , ,