A Second No-Bid Reflecting Pool Contract Went to a Trump Donor and Mar-a-Lago Neighbor Who Admitted to Bribing a Congressman
The New York Times reports that Greenwater Services, an Ohio firm, received a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install the "ozone nanobubbler" filtration system in the Reflecting Pool. The company is owned by the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust, led by John J. Cafaro — a Trump donor, Mar-a-Lago neighbor, and a man Trump has called "a fantastic man." Cafaro admitted to providing an "unlawful gratuity" (a bribe) to former Rep. James Traficant and to committing perjury in federal court; he received probation while Traficant got eight years. The company listed Cafaro's Palm Beach mansion as its Florida address and his investment trust's phone number in Ohio lobbying records. The White House says Trump "was not involved" in selecting Greenwater. This is the second no-bid Reflecting Pool contract given to a Trump-connected firm — the first, $13.1 million to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, went to a company whose prior pool work was at Trump's golf club. Combined cost: nearly $15 million. The pool is green. The two miles of faulty pipes that cause the algae problem remain unfixed.