This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAutoNation, a national network of auto sellers, received more than $77 million in federal small-business funds despite being a company worth billions that employed more than 26,000 people before the pandemic.In response to questions from The Washington Post, AutoNation Executive Vice President Marc Cannon said that the company’s board voted Thursday to return the funds even though the company had acquired them under the rules created by Congress and intended to use the money only to pay employees.The Post reviewed...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAutoNation, a national network of auto sellers, received more than $77 million in federal small-business funds despite being a company worth billions that employed more than 26,000 people before the pandemic.In response to questions from The Washington Post, AutoNation Executive Vice President Marc Cannon said that the company’s board voted Thursday to return the funds even though the company had acquired them under the rules created by Congress and intended to use the money only to pay employees.The Post reviewed...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Aspen Institute think tank accepted more than $8 million in federal small-businesses funds despite having a $115 million endowment and a board of trustees populated by billionaires.As with other larger employers — including , the Los Angeles Lakers and private — it does not appear that the Aspen Institute violated the rules of the program, managed by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration. Aspen, a nonprofit organization forced to shutter its influential leadership conferences, employs about 430...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Aspen Institute think tank accepted more than $8 million in federal small-businesses funds despite having a $115 million endowment and a board of trustees populated by billionaires.As with other larger employers — including , the Los Angeles Lakers and private — it does not appear that the Aspen Institute violated the rules of the program, managed by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration. Aspen, a nonprofit organization forced to shutter its influential leadership conferences, employs about 430...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareMcClatchy, one of the nation’s largest newspaper publishers, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, another harbinger of America’s deepening local-news crisis.The Chapter 11 filing will allow the Sacramento-based company to keep its 30 newspapers afloat while it reorganizes more than $700 million in debt, 60 percent of which would be eliminated. If the plan wins court approval, control of the 163-year-old family publisher would be turned over to hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, its largest creditor. The company has...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareMcClatchy, one of the nation’s largest newspaper publishers, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, another harbinger of America’s deepening local-news crisis.The Chapter 11 filing will allow the Sacramento-based company to keep its 30 newspapers afloat while it reorganizes more than $700 million in debt, 60 percent of which would be eliminated. If the plan wins court approval, control of the 163-year-old family publisher would be turned over to hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, its largest creditor. The company has...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp up their scrutiny of his company's real estate transactions, according to people familiar with the matter.District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened the investigation in 2018 to examine alleged hush-money payments made to two women who, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, claimed to have had affairs with him years...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareNEW YORK — The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp up their scrutiny of his company's real estate transactions, according to people familiar with the matter.District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened the investigation in 2018 to examine alleged hush-money payments made to two women who, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, claimed to have had affairs with him years...WW…

As the coronavirus pandemic devastated small businesses and plunged millions of Americans into poverty this summer and fall, executives at some of the country’s largest corporations sounded surprisingly upbeat.“I don’t think we’ve ever been more excited or energized about our prospects,” PayPal finance chief John Rainey said on a November conference call.“These are times when the strong can get stronger,” Nike chief John Donahoe told analysts in September.“With all that’s happening around the world, it’s really unfortunate,” said Jensen Huang, chief executive of graphics chip maker Nvidia,...…As the coronavirus pandemic devastated small businesses and plunged millions of Americans into poverty this summer and fall, executives at some of the country’s largest corporations sounded surprisingly upbeat.“I don’t think we’ve ever been more excited or energized about our prospects,” PayPal finance chief John Rainey said on a November conference call.“These are times when the strong can get stronger,” Nike chief John Donahoe told analysts in September.“With all that’s happening around the world, it’s really unfortunate,” said Jensen Huang, chief executive of graphics chip maker Nvidia,...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMore than half of the money from the Treasury Department’s coronavirus emergency fund for small businesses went to just 5 percent of the recipients, according to data on more than 5 million loans that was released by the government Tuesday evening in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit. on the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), about 600 mostly larger companies, including dozens of national chains, received the maximum amount allowed under the program of $10 million.Officials from the...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareMore than half of the money from the Treasury Department’s coronavirus emergency fund for small businesses went to just 5 percent of the recipients, according to data on more than 5 million loans that was released by the government Tuesday evening in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit. on the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), about 600 mostly larger companies, including dozens of national chains, received the maximum amount allowed under the program of $10 million.Officials from the...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA Trump administration appointee is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week, in another sign the incumbent president has not acknowledged Biden’s victory and could disrupt the transfer of power.The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as give access...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA Trump administration appointee is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week, in another sign the incumbent president has not acknowledged Biden’s victory and could disrupt the transfer of power.The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as give access...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareUnder intense White House pressure, Senate Republicans agreed Monday to allocate $1.75 billion in their toward the construction of a new D.C. headquarters for the FBI.But top Senate Republicans immediately began distancing themselves from the provision after it was made public, saying they weren’t sure why the White House repeatedly insisted on putting it in the bill.In calling for a new “Washington, DC headquarters facility,” the provision reflects President Trump’s in building a new headquarters for the FBI downtown,...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareUnder intense White House pressure, Senate Republicans agreed Monday to allocate $1.75 billion in their toward the construction of a new D.C. headquarters for the FBI.But top Senate Republicans immediately began distancing themselves from the provision after it was made public, saying they weren’t sure why the White House repeatedly insisted on putting it in the bill.In calling for a new “Washington, DC headquarters facility,” the provision reflects President Trump’s in building a new headquarters for the FBI downtown,...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA brief and barely noticed “blanket approval” issued by the Trump administration allows lawmakers, Small Business Administration staff, other federal officials and their families to bypass long-standing rules on conflicts of interest to seek funds for themselves, adding to concerns that coronavirus aid programs could be subject to fraud and abuse.Under normal circumstances, lawmakers and some federal employees who apply for small business funds in some cases have to seek approval of a little-known SBA body called the...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareA brief and barely noticed “blanket approval” issued by the Trump administration allows lawmakers, Small Business Administration staff, other federal officials and their families to bypass long-standing rules on conflicts of interest to seek funds for themselves, adding to concerns that coronavirus aid programs could be subject to fraud and abuse.Under normal circumstances, lawmakers and some federal employees who apply for small business funds in some cases have to seek approval of a little-known SBA body called the...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump’s company charged the Secret Service $157,000 more than was previously known — billing taxpayers for rooms at his clubs at rates far higher than his company has claimed, according to a new trove of receipts and billing documents released by the Secret Service.Many of the new receipts were obtained by the watchdog group , which spent three years battling the Secret Service over a public-records request from January 2017.When added to dozens of charges , the new documents show that Trump’s company has...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump’s company charged the Secret Service $157,000 more than was previously known — billing taxpayers for rooms at his clubs at rates far higher than his company has claimed, according to a new trove of receipts and billing documents released by the Secret Service.Many of the new receipts were obtained by the watchdog group , which spent three years battling the Secret Service over a public-records request from January 2017.When added to dozens of charges , the new documents show that Trump’s company has...WW…