Jim Acosta – Whistleblower Document Dump Accuses Trump Administration of Damaging Kennedy Center with No-Bid Contracts and Shoddy Work. “Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse released the documents which state facility may now require “extensive remediation.” It is more than just a tacky tarp that is plaguing the Kennedy Center. According to a large trove of government documents and emails, provided to members of Congress by a group of whistleblowers, the Trump administration rushed shoddy renovation work at the Center through no-bid contracts that could leave the facility in need of “extensive remediation” for years to come. The newly released documents, released by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, accuse the administration of “gross mismanagement and gross waste of public funds” in awarding projects to “preferred contractors.” A letter addressed to lawmakers from the Government Accountability Project on behalf of the whistleblowers said the president’s handpicked Center management made several of these renovation decisions in “unusually close consultation” with Trump himself. “Renovations were rushed to meet the deadlines driven by the President’s desire to host official events at the Center. Federal contracting laws and regulations were ignored. Preferred contractors were awarded no-bid contracts without proper justification. Management repeatedly told staff to ‘do whatever it takes,’ insisting that ‘we’ll deal with the lawsuits later,’ the letter stated. “The rushed timeline and deviations from contracting practices led to superficial cosmetic alterations that apparently failed to address underlying structural deficiencies and will likely require extensive remediation,” the letter added…”