Trump's 'Mar-a-Lago Trio' Broke Law in Plan to Monetize Veterans' Medical Records: Report

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Newsweek

Three executives used their personal ties to former President Donald Trump to allegedly break the law to shape veterans' policies for their own benefit, according to the findings of an investigation by House Democrats released Monday.

Known as the "Mar-a-Lago Trio," the group is comprised of Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter, attorney Marc Sherman and doctor Bruce Moskowitz. A joint investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs found the three men allegedly used their connection to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private golf club, to secretly influence the Department of Veterans Affairs during his presidential administration.

The men were also accused of refusing to comply with a law known as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, according to a statement from the chairs of the two committees.

The "Trio" are accused of benefitting from their work in the development of programs at the VA, including a plan to monetize the medical records of veterans.



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-mar-a-lago-trio-broke-law-in-plan-to-monetize-veterans-medical-records-report/ar-AAOSALi?li=BBnb7Kz

[monkeyman1]

1. mandatory life in prison for 3 pos !

[hedda_foil]

2. It's about f--ing time they got caught! Now send the report to DOJ and book 'em!

[Thomas Hurt]

3. well, are there going to be criminal referrals?

[not fooled]

4. So...

are they making money off this? Will they have to give it back? Will their illegal plan be undone?

I get sick of reading these after-the-fact stories where the crooks finally get called out but their malfeasance is not undone. And we know they will never see the inside of a prison cell.

[Skittles]

5. OK I am confused

what does it mean to "monetize medical records" ???

[LanternWaste]

6. I'm guessing it means selling the records to marketing companies.

Names with complete demographics attached are gold mines to marketing companies. A list the size of the VA's would be worth a LOT of money.

Again, just a guess on my part.

[Skittles]

7. wouldn't that be a HIPAA violation?

seriously

[LanternWaste]

9. Probably.

But if those records were sold/auctioned with just basic info like age, race, number, zip, etc, and no actual medical data they may have thought that would/could skirt the law.

Again, it's all a guess on my part... but selling that volume of data would earn someone somewhere a ton of money. And I can't really see any other way to profit/monetize the records.

[KS Toronado]

12. Looked it up........

"Monetize" refers to the process of turning a non-revenue-generating item into cash. In many cases,
monetization looks to novel methods of creating income from new sources.

Yep, follow the money.

[FakeNoose]

17. I'm guessing they packaged the veteran's private data

... and sold it to anyone who paid their price. I have no doubt that it included a nice cut for Chump as well. Lock them up, and hefty fines for Chump.

[Metatron]

21. It could mean outsourcing to private record management companies.

I haven't looked into it, yet, though.

[Baked Potato]

8. Disgusting. Nt

[keithbvadu2]

10. With a kickback to Donald?

[mpcamb]

16. Right. How much $? Who got it? Where did it go?

[MadLinguist]

11. From another article, it may be the no-bid contract with Cerner that the trio pushed

There is definitely more investigation to be done, but this tidbit is intriguing, concerning the dubious need to purchase a new electronic health record (EHR) system from Cerner, and abandon the VA's own natively constructed system.
From this article:
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/ehrs/trump-s-mar-a-lago-trio-broke-law-in-plan-to-monetize-veterans-medical-records-congressional-investigators-claim.html

A May 2020 report by the Government Accountability Office claimed that the trio made numerous recommendations from 2016-18 on various Department of Veterans Affairs initiatives, including its $16 billion EHR contract with Cerner. GAO analyzed 223 email exchanges between the three men, referred to as "private citizens" and VA. Of the email exchanges, 77 mentioned the Cerner project or interoperability in some capacity. The timeline focused on 2016-18, and the report was conducted between April 2019 to May 2020

It would be quite surprising if these bozos actually managed contract someone to burrow into the VA system, siphon off veteran data without triggering multiple alarms. To me, it looks like they wanted to do it, thought no one would give a shit and boffled around some glittery words at high levels in the VA, probably got paid some consulting fees and moved on to something easier

[Snackshack]

13. What's this?!?

No way…Trump is an outstanding and patriotic American who holds the people who serve this great nation and defend its freedom as sacred cows. He would never allow a grift or scam or any type of nefariousness to infect the VA. This just cannot be true.

Unless of course he’s getting a cut that’s above current market value of 25% for VA fuckery, in which case.

No 💩.

[sakabatou]

14. I betting they'll just get slaps on the wrist.

[usaf-vet]

15. This is how they support veterans. Trump and his band of grifters.

Gitmo ís a perfect place to send these a$$holes to.

[BlueWavePsych]

18. Veteran luv ...

[mountain grammy]

19. They did exactly what they were appointed to do..

by the criminal president.

[Mysterian]

20. Depraved republicans have no morals, ethics or scruples

Their prayer is "greed is good" and all they worship is money.

[tonekat]

22. Sure sounds like it may have violated HIPAA

Too late at night for me to research.