Afghan refugees will be dumped in their neighborhood and all considerations to the residents are rescinded.

According to a press release from Loudoun County Sheriff Michael L. Chapman….

Sheriff Chapman Addresses Potential Relocation of Afghan Refugees by DHS to the National Conference Center in Lansdowne

Loudoun County, VA (February 17, 2022)- On February 4, 2022, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) received an unannounced visit by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Protective Service (FPS) in which it learned that approximately 2000 Afghan refugees, per month, were slated to arrive at the Washington Dulles International Airport during a window beginning as early as February 19, 2022, and extending to September 2022.

That’s at least 16,000 Afghans, but you know it will probably be more, not less.

DHS/FPS regional personnel advised the refugees would be transported by bus to the National Conference Center (NCC) where they would stay until their ultimate relocation elsewhere in the United States. DHS/FPS estimated that no more than 1000 refugees per month would remain at the NCC at any given time until September 2022. The refugees, for the most part, would enter the US from Qatar. DHS/FPS advised that the refugees will be provided cash and cell phones from non-government organizations and be required to remain on the NCC grounds.

While hundreds of thousands of Americans are currently circumnavigating “programs” created to alleviate their homeless status, Afghan refugees have been given head-of-line status to receive “cash and cell phones”. Must be nice as you know they’ll also be given a prompt, soft place to land as well.

As the information was vague, Sheriff Chapman raised this issue at a committee meeting the following day in Washington, DC. He was immediately contacted by members of DHS and received a phone call from the DHS executive staff. A follow-up conference call with a senior member of FEMA occurred the following day where he raised concerns about DHS’ lack of communication, lack of planning, language barriers, a failure to communicate with a myriad of potential stakeholders, and the NCC’s unfenced proximity to a residential neighborhood and two public schools.

A “failure to communicate” or an issue not to be considered their problem…?

While the LCSO is more than willing to assist Afghan refugees and their families who provided support to our military and defense personnel in Afghanistan, DHS had difficulty addressing several concerns raised during a subsequent conversation. These concerns are provided below:

What level of vetting has been conducted to ensure refugees entering Loudoun County had aided the United States and were not a threat to the US or our local community?

DHS Response – Refugees had been carefully vetted and many served as translators. However, when asked how if in fact they served as translators when only 30% of the refugees spoke English, DHS responded that many of the incoming refugees were family members of the translators.

Biden’s assertions and actual numbers never add up.

Recent reports have let the American people know that the Biden administration’s “vetting process” when it comes to Afghans has been piss poor to date and many with clear terror ties have gone dark once released into the United States. Assurances from the Department of Homeland Security should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Considering the NCC is located within a largely residential area of Lansdowne and within walking distance of Riverside High School and Belmont Ridge Middle School, what arrangements were made with Loudoun County stakeholders to ensure the area is secure for the community?

DHS advised that the FPS would provide 15 officers for security at the NCC. However, the FPS has no law enforcement jurisdiction in Loudoun County and cannot enforce nor investigate any criminal activity on the campus.

They’ll be Loudoun County’s problem.

When pressed further about safety issues, DHS stated that the NCC would be designated a federal facility. What would that mean?

Basically nothing. Regardless of that designation, any potential criminal activity or domestic issues that might occur on the NCC campus would not fall under federal code but under state and local law, therefore limiting FPS’ ability to intervene, assist, or investigate these matters.

They’ll be Loudoun County’s problem.

What communications had been done to prepare area residents who may be impacted by this?

None.

Why is this no surprise?

It sounds like it Afghan refugees would simply be dumped off in Loudoun County with no consideration for those who not only live there, but the taxpayers who’ll have to foot the bill for dealing with any problems they’ll bring with them.

What coordination with other Loudoun County stakeholders had been performed to this point to include Loudoun County Fire and Rescue (for medical emergencies), Loudoun County Public Schools, Loudoun County Department of Mental Health, Social Services, local hospitals, the Adams Center, or other area houses of faith, or the County government at large?  

None. DHS stated that no coordination had occurred and that no notifications had been made to the community surrounding the NCC (as of February 15). Additionally, no coordination had been performed either with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Director of Public Safety.

Of course not.

The Biden administration fucked up the “largest airlift of people in history” from Afghanistan, let anyone get on the flights out, squelched most of the reports of the crimes some of the refugees committed on the military bases they were sent to and in the surrounding neighborhoods, and left their logistics to non-governmental organizations that have no sense of urgency to address their situation because they’re on the clock.

What federal financial assistance would be proposed to help with the added responsibilities to stakeholders?

DHS proposed grant funding. Unfortunately, any grant funding would likely be available well after the projected September exit date of the refugees.

Translation: Again, they’re Loudoun County’s problem until September and then they’ll be accepting grant applications that will take as long as the Biden administration get’s around to process them. No positive outcome is guaranteed and it will probably fall on the locals to foot the bill.

Sheriff Chapman’s concerns were brought to the highest levels of DHS and on February 8^th, he received a telephone call directly from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Secretary Mayorkas apologized for the lack of communication by DHS with the LCSO and other stakeholders but assured Sheriff Chapman that his concerns would be addressed.

Mayorkas has had to issue a lot of “apologies” during his short term.

On February 15, 2022, Sheriff Chapman and his command staff met with members of DHS FPS, the US Secret Service, and FEMA, at which time Sheriff Chapman insisted that DHS draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to ensure the roles and expectations of all stakeholders are clearly delineated and agreed upon, as well as the duration the refugees will be staying at the NCC. DHS offered to provide security cameras, fencing around the perimeter with additional FPS personnel and interpreters; however, no additional accommodations were offered.

As of this date, a draft MOU has not been produced and DHS has not yet contracted with the NCC.

Agencies of the Biden administration have blown off multiple requests, be them from congressional or senate committees conducting oversight, for documents, responses to questions from lawmakers, etc.

You know Sheriff Chapman is low on their priority list.

“As I have a responsibility for the safety and security of Loudoun’s citizens, I want to ensure that our community is aware of the concerns we have raised and the expectations we have from our partners with the federal government. Currently, those expectations have not been met, and we continue to have concerns as to whether the NCC is an appropriate location to support this mission,” said Sheriff Chapman. “We will continue to keep our community informed as this process continues. If the resettlement proceeds, we will work with the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and all stakeholders to ensure that appropriate resources are obtained for the refugees’ successful transition into the United States,” he added.

We applaud Sheriff Chapman for his public optimism during a time of unknowns and non-responses from DHS. Behind closed doors, he’s probably shaking his head trying to wrap his arms around the shit show Biden has dumped in his jurisdiction.

You know this will be yet another topic that will be on the table come November because the chances these Afghan citizens will be model citizens before then are slim to none. Most will be thankful at first but the whining, criticisms and demands from the growing ungrateful will soon come.

They always do.

One would think if the New York Times “obtained” a document of monumental importance to the lives of Americans, we see it. Of course, we’re talking about today’s standards of journalism.

As President Trump presses for states to reopen their economies, his administration is privately projecting a steady rise in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths over the next several weeks. The daily death toll will reach about 3,000 on June 1, according to an internal document obtained by The New York Times, a 70 percent increase from the current number of about 1,750.

The projections, based on government modeling pulled together by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, forecast about 200,000 new cases each day by the end of the month, up from about 25,000 cases a day currently.
— New York Times, 5/4/20

As expected in our world of sensationalism based on “anonymous” or “official” unnamed sources, the document in question is not presented for public inspection.

As the administration privately predicted a sharp increase in deaths, a public model that has been frequently cited by the White House revised its own estimates, doubling its projected death toll.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington is now estimating that there will be nearly 135,000 deaths in the United States through the beginning of August — more than double what it forecast on April 17, when it estimated 60,308 deaths by Aug. 4. (The country has already had more than 68,000 deaths.)

Again, that “68,000” death count is still up for debate seeing how official numbers appear to double, seemingly overnight.

And back to that University of Washington model that was also conveniently not linked to by the New York Times, how many university and agency models have been correct in their predictions so far?

Not very many, if at all.

Regarding the updated models, our analyses indicate that the later models do not show any improvement in the accuracy of the point estimate predictions. In fact, there is some evidence that this accuracy has actually decreased over the initial models.
— An Examination of the Statistical Accuracy of COVID19 Daily Death Count Predictions, 5/5/20

So, the “model” predictions are getting worse, but are yet being cited as fact to influence behavior. One would hope disseminating accurate numbers to the public would be a priority before potentially scaring the shit out of millions of people worldwide, let alone domestically.

We already KNOW, based on a named source, that Coronavirus infection numbers are being intentionally driven up for what has to be political purposes.

Reached via email on Monday morning, Joe Macenka, a spokesman for Virginia’s COVID-19 Joint Information Command, confirmed that each positive case of the disease would be counted as a new case altogether. “If a person is tested on different days, those tests are counted as separate,” he said.

Pressed to clarify the policy, Macenka said that repeat positive cases “are counted as separate cases only if the tests occur on different days. If [a Virginia resident] tested Monday and Tuesday and both are positive, that’s two positives.”

That policy may serve to sharply drive up case numbers, which may in turn significantly delay the re-opening of the state. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has stated that the state will begin its first phase of re-opening only when state officials have logged 14 straight days of declining case numbers and hospitalizations.
— Just The News, 5/4/20

It would be naive to assume that this is only happening in blue Virginia.

Here’s the problem for the left. Americans, not blessed by uninterrupted paychecks, want to get back to work. Americans are tired of being told to stay at home for the sake of not sharing a virus no one can see and fear ramped up for the obvious benefit of a political party facing a presidential and down-ballot ass whuppin’ in less than six months.

Politicians and their media could give a rip about the economy and all those dependent on its success for daily survival. It’s all about beating President Trump and if they have to make shit up along the way, it’s not like they haven’t done this before.

Now, some people are up on the problem….

The Defense Department is banning the use of a popular videoconferencing application for official business due to questions about its security, a Pentagon spokesman told a military news site.

Zoom is no longer an option for teleconferencing sessions involving service members and DOD civilians, according to a Monday report in Military.com. The site attributed the statement to Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Carver.
— Stars & Stripes, 4/14/20

If that’s the case, an explanation is in order as of what transpired on… May 4, 2020!

It’s not news that there are serious security issues with Zoom and why our federal government is still using their platform and giving China hours of American government correspondence is baffling.

Zoom, the video conferencing service whose use has spiked amid the Covid-19 pandemic, claims to implement end-to-end encryption, widely understood as the most private form of internet communication, protecting conversations from all outside parties. In fact, Zoom is using its own definition of the term, one that lets Zoom itself access unencrypted video and audio from meetings.
— The Intercept, 3/31/20

Zoom has faced a barrage of headlines this week over its security policies and privacy practices, as hundreds of millions forced to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic still need to communicate with each other.

The latest findings landed earlier today when Citizen Lab researchers said that some calls made in North America were routed through China — as were the encryption keys used to secure those calls. But as was noted this week, Zoom isn’t end-to-end encrypted at all, despite the company’s earlier claims, meaning that Zoom controls the encryption keys and can therefore access the contents of its customers’ calls.
— TechCrunch, 4/3/20

Forbes revealed U.S. agencies handling the coronavirus response had spent a collective $1.3 million on Zoom tech in just a few days at the end of March. Not only had the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent hundreds of thousands on Zoom for COVID-19-related webinars and calls, but other government agencies had bought into the tech, too. That included the State Department and one organization that was the alleged victim of a major Chinese hack, the Office of Personnel Management, in a breach that saw the private data of 21 million Americans leak. The U.K. government is also a well-known user of the tool, hosting critical cabinet meetings over Zoom.
— Forbes, 4/3/20

Foreign intelligence agents are using online platforms and videoconferencing apps to spy on Americans, TIME reported, citing several US intelligence officials. Chinese spies, in particular, have exploited the coronavirus pandemic to get information about American companies as they take their operations digital and offices across the US shut down amid stay-at-home orders.

The video conferencing app Zoom has proven particularly susceptible to cyber intrusions because of its popularity — Zoom’s CEO said the number of people using the app jumped from 10 million in December to 200 million in March — and lack of encryption.
— Business Insider, 4/9/20

And with regards to the Department of Defense…?

The Department of Defense has issued new guidance on the use of the popular videoconferencing application Zoom following a week-old FBI warning about security issues and a VOA report Thursday that military and government employees had continued to use the app. In an email to VOA on Friday, a Pentagon spokesman said, “DOD users may not host meetings using Zoom’s free or commercial offerings.”

The spokesman said the new guidance permits use of Zoom for Government, a paid tier service that is hosted in a separate cloud authorized by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, when videoconferencing about “publicly releasable DOD information not categorized as ‘For Official Use Only.’ ”

It was unclear, however, how many government employees have differentiated between the two services to date.

“Just because senior leadership enacts a policy does not automatically mean that everyone in every corner of an organization immediately gets the word,” a defense official said.
— Voice of America, 4/10/20

It remains unclear why any federal agency, given all the red flags issued, is STILL using Zoom.

Just because a teenage daughter uses today’s “it”, doesn’t mean discussions between government officials and employees should be using what is clearly a treasure trove of internal discussions that can be parked away in Chinese servers for future reference.

The 2018 Boston Red Sox won it all last year and after their last upcoming road game in Baltimore, the reigning champions have been invited to the White House to culminate their achievement with a meeting in the White House with President Trump.

They will not be going as a team.

Puerto Rico is very important to me. During the winter I spent a lot of time back home, visiting my family and friends. Unfortunately, we are still struggling, still fighting. Some people still lack basic necessities, others remain without electricity and many homes and schools are in pretty bad shape almost a year and a half after Hurricane María struck.

Even though the United States Government has helped, there’s still a long road ahead and that is OUR reality. I’ve used my voice on many occasions so that Puerto Ricans are not forgotten and my absence (from the White House) is no different. As such, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable celebrating in the White House.
— Alex Cora, manager of the Boston Red Sox

Unless Cora gets his only news from CNN and MSNBC, it’s also a known fact that one of the single most reasons for any delays in aid actually reaching the people of Puerto Rico is the well-documented corrupt government officials that have taken care of their own families and friends first. Routine corruption that has made any suggestion of Puerto Rico becoming a state a bad joke.

Flashback: Puerto Rican Officials Hoarded FEMA Aid, Bash President Trump

Other Red Sox players deciding not to go to the White House are Xander Bogaerts, David Price, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers, Hector Velazquez, and Christian Vazquez: most of whom deciding not to publicly offer any insights as to why not.

But this, again, is a blown opportunity many would pay many dollars to have.

As much as Cora believes he knows all about what’s going on in Puerto Rico, is there even the most remote possibility that President Trump just may have some insights that haven’t been reported in the media? Probably. Are there some things Cora knows that would be beneficial for the president to be aware of? Probably.

Granted, with all the pomp and circumstance happening on Thursday, a political discussion might not be apropos. But had Alex Cora and the other boycotting players attended, it’s not like one of them couldn’t ask Donald Trump for an appointment next time they’re in town and it’s not like Donald Trump would say “no”.

But the Red Sox manager and players will happily never know what they don’t know because they blew off a chance for that rare opportunity for a dialogue with the president.

…
I guess they showed him.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s Princeton classmate is a top executive at the company that earned the contract to build the failed Obamacare website. Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of ’85, is senior vice president at CGI Federal, which earned the no-bid contract to build the $678 million Obamacare enrollment website at Healthcare.gov. CGI Federal is the U.S. arm of a Canadian company.
— Daily Caller, 10/25/13

We all know how well that $678 million no-bid contract worked out for the American people. Granted, working within the red-tape federal government parameters is probably a bear to circumnavigate, but for the amount of money awarded it should have been graciously dealt with and a working website delivered.

Five years later, we apparently still have the incompetent mixing with federal government access to millions of taxpayer dollars, a failure to deliver the goods as promised and a black woman with questionable ability to handle the task at hand.

The mission for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was clear: Hurricane Maria had torn through Puerto Rico, and hungry people needed food. Thirty million meals needed to be delivered as soon as possible. For this huge task, FEMA tapped Tiffany Brown, an Atlanta entrepreneur with no experience in large-scale disaster relief and at least five canceled government contracts in her past. FEMA awarded her $156 million for the job, and Ms. Brown, who is the sole owner and employee of her company, Tribute Contracting LLC, set out to find some help.

Ms. Brown, who is adept at navigating the federal contracting system, hired a wedding caterer in Atlanta with a staff of 11 to freeze-dry wild mushrooms and rice, chicken and rice, and vegetable soup. She found a nonprofit in Texas that had shipped food aid overseas and domestically, including to a Houston food bank after Hurricane Harvey.

By the time 18.5 million meals were due, Tribute had delivered only 50,000. And FEMA inspectors discovered a problem: The food had been packaged separately from the pouches used to heat them. FEMA’s solicitation required “self-heating meals.”

“Do not ship another meal. Your contract is terminated,” Carolyn Ward, the FEMA contracting officer who handled Tribute’s agreement, wrote to Ms. Brown in an email dated Oct. 19 that Ms. Brown provided to The New York Times. “This is a logistical nightmare.”
— New York Times, 2/6/18

This is NOT to say they’re aren’t competent black people around the country who can’t handle large scale projects, but we also live at a time when racebaiting big mouths get the attention and much is done to placate them. Possibly knowing a few Obama holdovers in the federal government to assist in the tax dollar hook-up didn’t hurt either.

Then again if you screw the taxpayers and you’re an aggrieved minority, don’t assume responsibility. Blame and bite the hand that fed you very well.

Brown admits she didn’t have the money to finance to project but insists she wasn’t awarded the contract as part of a sweetheart deal. “I got it because I had a very good proposal and understanding of what was needed,” she told CNN. “Here is what I can say, I’ve had challenges with government contracts in the past. The primary reason is financial resources, and lack of support,” she said. She says FEMA was the real problem. “They need to really shore up their infrastructure for payment for their contractors,” Brown said. “If you want someone to provide a service of $155 million, you really should pay or wire transfer within 24 hours or pay a percentage.”

Brown told CNN she plans to sue the government for $70 million.
— Slate, 2/6/18

Brown admits she didn’t have the means to create and deliver the meals prior to accepting the contract, but that’s not what she wrote when she sought millions of taxpayer dollars.

We can deliver 10 million per day. We can deliver to all locations.
— Tiffany Brown, Tribute “proposal” for Maria Meals

Obviously not but now “FEMA is to blame” for giving a contract to a woman who shouldn’t have applied for it in the first place.

Most contractors understand payment can take between 30 and 60 days after delivery of a product and the federal government is no exception. And now she plans on suing the taxpayer for termination of a deal she couldn’t deliver. Demanding payment despite having a history of failure will probably result in the misguided black, liberal traditional charge of racism and she’ll get paid something to make her go away… at our expense.

President Donald Trump should avoid making comments that hurt the people of Puerto Rico, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz told CNN following a briefing with Trump on the island.

“I told him, ‘Mr. President this is about saving lives. It’s not about politics,’” Yulín Cruz said. “That’s all the interaction that mayors had with him.“
— CNN, 10/3/17

Of course, there are always two sides to every story.

I don’t know why she is saying that. What I can tell you is my experience.

She [Mayor Cruz] is not participating in any meetings and we had a couple already with the governors and with representation of FEMA and of HUD, of these whole federal agencies that have given us help and she’s not participating in those meetings and some mayors from her political party have been participating, so I don’t know why she is saying that. My experience is very different.
— Angel Perez, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico mayor

As we’ve shared earlier, some politicians have used the hurricane aftermath in Puerto Rico for blatant self-promotion and it now appears there are actually government elected and employees who may be hoarding the life-saving supplies sent from the U.S. mainland.

It would be politically incorrect and probably racist to conclude systemic corruption is the island’s culture, but it clearly is.

“This morning we received information from a town on the Island where a person close to the municipal administration was asking one of our federal agents that the supplies that were there could not be touched because they were for his mayor,” said federal prosecutor Rosa Emilia Rodriguez, who then indicated that the case is already being investigated.

She added that he also received confidences from another islander whose official was also keeping supplies for “constituents who had voted for that person. This is not the time to do politics … this is the time to help and to be kind to others. This is a tragedy and nobody should take advantage of the aid, “said Rodriguez, adding that if they manage to prove the indications, the accusations will arrive “no matter which party, or whoever. “
— Metro, 10/9/17

Be very skeptical of the screeching media, demanding to know why aspects of FEMA recovery efforts aren’t happening as fast as they determine it should be. The answer is one they can’t allow the American taxpayer to hear and Democrat Party to answer for.

For the last 30 years, the Puerto Rican government has been completely inept at handling regular societal needs, so I just don’t see it functioning in a crisis like this one. Even before the hurricane hit, water and power systems were already broken. And our $118 billion debt crisis is a result of government corruption and mismanagement.

Watch out what relief funds you approve and let our local government handle. Don’t let the Puerto Rican government play the victim and fool you. They have no clue what they are doing, and I worry that they will mishandle anything that comes their way.

It looks like Mr. Rodriguez was spot on and the misleading media isn’t helping either.

I’m really tired of Puerto Rican government officials blaming the federal government for their woes and for not acting fast enough to help people on the island. Last week I had three federal agents in my office and I was so embarrassed; I went out of my way to apologize to them for the attitude of my government and what they have been saying about the US response. When the hurricane hit we had experts from FEMA from all over the US on the ground and I was really proud of their quick response. The first responders and FEMA have all been outstanding in this crisis, and should be supported.

I have 50 engineers that I have sent out pro bono to help local companies get back on their feet. This includes getting people gasoline and cash, and helping them connect to others that can assist with repairs without delays.

I won’t allow my people to work with the local government.
— Jorge Rodriguez, CEO of PACIV

Name one journalist (who’s probably never heard of Ohm’s Law) that can tell you how and why electricity comes from a pole into their home, let alone know where to start rebuilding a damaged power grid.

CNN: Fewer Puerto Ricans have power restored than a week ago
NY Times: 84 Percent of Puerto Rico Still Doesn’t Have Power
WaPo: Is it lights out for Puerto Rico?

But if it’s about whining about the president’s direction and FEMA’s efforts, they know just what the people need to hear.

While the professional, partisan media tells the American people that Puerto Rico essentially remains in the dark, reality on the ground is another thing.

The executive director of the Electric Energy Authority (AEE), Ricardo Ramos, said Wednesday that the country has light in most of the municipalities, with the exception of the southeast and central strip of the island.

Ramos, speaking at a press conference at the Convention Center, also said that the public corporation “is going to meet the goals” established by the governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares, who indicated that that agency must have energized by 95 percent the country the 15th of December.
— Metro, 10/18/17

The media and partisan politicians lying to the American people is something expected. Intentionally causing physical misery for political gain is also expected of Democrats, no matter how benign-to-lethal that misery will be.

Just ask Baltimore, South Central Los Angeles, Detroit, New Orleans, Oakland, Washington, D.C., and now Puerto Rico….

UPDATE

The Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, said Wednesday that bureaucracy and inefficiency across local and federal government entities are to blame for the deaths of nearly 3,000 on the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which came to light as part of a newly released study commissioned by the Puerto Rican government. In particular, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz blamed President Donald Trump, federal officials and Puerto Rican officials for not providing more assistance in what the Puerto Rican government now acknowledges was a storm deadlier than Hurricane Katrina.
— CNN, 8/29/18

Unfortunately, we may never know just how many lives may have been saved if the aid intended for the people wasn’t intercepted and hoarded for the politically-privileged Democrat government officials, friends and families.

Loosing….

Of course if all you had to go by was the #FakeNews media, “3,000” was an easily-recitable round figure.

ABC News: Trump rejects revised Puerto Rico death toll, tweets ‘3000 people did not die’ in hurricanes
CNBC: Trump claims without evidence that 3,000 people did not die in Puerto Rico hurricanes, blames Democrats for inflating toll
NY Times: Rejecting Puerto Rican Death Toll, Trump Accuses Democrats of Inflating It
Daily Beast: Jake Tapper: Is Trump Unaware 3,000 People Died in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria?
CNN: Trump falsely claims nearly 3,000 Americans in Puerto Rico ‘did not die’
USA Today: Nearly 3000 people died in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria

But as in anything, it all depends on what you want the public to believe based on whose “facts” you decide to credit.

Puerto Rican authorities report only 64 deaths from Hurricane Maria, the worst storm to hit the island in nearly a century. But statistical estimates point to many more victims.
— Royal Statistical Society, 2/6/18

• The New York Times calculated 1,052 deaths through October.
• The Center for Investigative Reporting calculated 985 through October.
• University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez professors calculated 822, with a 95 percent confidence range that the total was somewhere between 605 and 1,039.
• Pennsylvania State University professors calculated excess deaths of about 500 in September, or a total of 1,085 if the same pattern held in October. That estimate was based on six weeks of mortality records.
• A Latino USA analysis, using updated data from Puerto Rico’s Department of Health, calculated 1,194 excess deaths in September and October.
• The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers posted a document that includes this question: Does your study say that 4,645 died? The answer: “No. We provide a 95% confidence interval of 793 to 8,498, and 4,645 falls in the middle of this range.”
— Washington Post, 6/1/18

Given the situation on the ground, the death count is understandably all over the place as opposed to the “3,000” number many lock onto for political anti-Trump expediency, which incidentally appears nowhere in the studied estimates.

UPDATE

While some are trying to make the case that Puerto Rico deserves statehood status, some of the long, underreported fraudulent behavior of local officials keeps rearing its ugly head.

Three officials with Puerto Rico’s Senate were arrested by FBI agents Thursday and later charged by the U.S. territory’s federal prosecutor with alleged corruption for a case involving a scheme to defraud the legislature using “ghost employees.” Federal prosecutor Rosa Emilia Rodríguez said 18 charges were brought against Ángel Figueroa Cruz, director of the Senate Office of Government Affair; Isoel Sánchez Santiago, an assistant to the Senate president; and Chrystal Robles Báez, a contractor to the body.

The purported scheme involved the accused billing the Senate for professional services that were never provided.
— Associated Press, 5/30/19

I’m sure you haven’t heard as much compared to the eager coverage Mayor Cruz enjoyed while attacking the president for not sending more money to the island. Here’s another reason why….

A mayor and two former government officials in Puerto Rico face public corruption charges in separate cases that involve a total of $8 million in federal and local funds, authorities said Thursday.

Note: whenever you hear “federal and local funds”, replace those words with “taxpayer dollars”.

Officials said former finance director Victor Cruz Quintero deposited some $2.5 million worth of funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development into the town’s general and payroll accounts in October 2014. Toa Baja’s former interim finance director, Angel Roberto Santos Garcia, is accused of making similar transactions worth $650,000 using funds from those two federal agencies.

Federal authorities said that Mayor Miguel Ortiz is accused of defrauding the federal government of nearly $3 million in a separate scheme that began in 2013 and ended in 2016. Officials said he is accused of financing projects without prior approval from Puerto Rico’s Department of Education and obtaining funds after misrepresenting the projects’ cost.
— New York Daily News, 7/7/19

And let’s not leave anyone out.

Puerto Rico’s former secretary of education and five other people have been arrested on charges of steering federal money to unqualified, politically connected contractors.

Federal officials said Wednesday that the FBI has arrested former Education Secretary Julia Keleher, former Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration head Ángela Ávila-Marrero, businessman Fernando Scherrer-Caillet and education contractors Glenda E. Ponce-Mendoza and Mayra Ponce-Mendoza. They face 32 counts of fraud and related charges.

The alleged fraud involves $15.5 million in federal funding between 2017 and 2019. Thirteen million was spent by the Department of Education during Keleher’s time as secretary, while $2.5 million was spent by the insurance administration when Ávila was the director.
— NBC News, 7/10/19

Let’s face it: Puerto Rico is run like your stereotypical, graft and corruption-laden banana republic and until they’re forced to clean up their act, they don’t deserve statehood, let alone any more taxpayer money from Americans.

UPDATE

Corruption appears to be so bad in Puerto Rico that it continues when you’d think reasonable people would lay low….

Ahsha Nateef Tribble, administrator of FEMA region 2 – in New York – and assigned to the emergency in Puerto Rico after the impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria, was arrested this morning in Florida for conspiracy to bribe public officials, electronic fraud and fraud to disaster funds, in relation to the contracts granted by the Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to the company Cobra Acquisitions, LLC.

Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) also arrested Donald Keith Ellison, former president of the company that was to work on the repair of the island’s electrical system; Jovanda R. Patterson, a former FEMA assistant assigned to San Juan, confirmed the head of federal prosecutor Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez during a press conference.
— El Nuevo Día (The New Day), 9/10/19

Next…?

UPDATE

While this is being initially being portrayed as gross incompetence, it could also be another case of Puerto Rico government official hoarding.

Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez dismissed the island’s director of emergency management after a warehouse was discovered with supplies dating back to Hurricane Maria.

Video published Saturday showed a warehouse in the southwestern city of Ponce filled with supplies, including thousands of cases of water, believed to have been from when the hurricane struck the island in 2017. Carlos Acevedo, before his firing, said in a statement: “It is important to emphasize that no citizen has been denied any of the items found at this place.”

The person who took the video of inside the warehouse “violated the security perimeter,” he added.
— ABC News, 1/18/20

Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez fired two more officials in the most recent development since anger broke out over a viral video showing unused emergency supplies – allegedly left-over aid from Hurricane Maria – sitting in a warehouse in the southern coastal city of Ponce. Housing Secretary Fernando Gil and Department of Family Secretary Glorimar Andújar were dismissed Sunday.
— Fox News, 1/20/20

So, had it not been for the person who video documented the corruption, no one would know and Acevedo would still have his job.

Got’cha.

A police officer on the ground managed to call New York City’s La Mega 97.9 FM to express her emotional frustration of the San Juan mayor’s grandstanding while seemingly blowing off her duties; a sentiment echoed by others.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz (“Popular Democratic Party”) has made the media rounds from CNN, MSNBC, and even the Washington Post to publicly bash the relief efforts of FEMA. Her comments that other mayors are experiencing similar frustrations are not in sync with reality.

“I don’t know why she is saying that”, said Angel Perez, Guaynabo Mayor. “She is not participating in any meetings. We had a couple already with the governors and with representation of FEMA and of HUD, these whole federal agencies that have given us help. We are receiving assistance from FEMA. I got people over here helping us with applications for the people that have damage in their houses.”

Mayor Perez echoed the sentiments of Richard Rossello, the governor of Puerto Rico, who praised President Trump for his rapid response to Puerto Rico’s aid requests.
— Daily Caller, 9/30/17

In other words, you don’t bite the hand that’s trying to feed you.

There are reportedly hundreds of containers full of much-needed supplies sitting idle at San Juan’s port and no truck drivers to distribute their contents where needed.

That’s hardly something that can be blamed on President Trump as the federal government can’t be held responsible for a local disaster plan in absentia.

A sight eerily similar to that flooded parking lot filled with school buses in New Orleans that sat idle instead of being used to evacuate the hundreds that had to sit out Hurricane Katrina.

One would hope that federal, state, and local entities would have plans prepared for that rare Act of God. It would also be reasonable to assume that amidst the chaos of a disaster aftermath, petty political differences would be sidelined and all hands would work together for the good of all affected. Sadly, as recently as Hurricane Katrina, some in power exercise poor judgment in planning-for and reacting-to tragedy.

That, again, appears to be too much to ask of Democrats and a media all too willing to score political points at the expense of the misery of thousands of whom they consistently look down upon as “ordinary people”. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz has shown she lacks the humility to manage her city as arrogance is not a leadership quality desired when her people need her most; people who will have power soon enough and will see how she conducted herself while they were in the dark.