A company tied to President Trump’s brother, Robert, received a $33 million contract from the U.S. Marshals Service, bringing scrutiny that there was possible favoritism in the bidding process.
The president’s younger brother, Robert Trump, has a financial stake in CertiPath, a company based in Reston, Virginia, that was awarded a government contract to provide security to federal courthouses.
An anonymous rival bidder has filed a complaint with the Justice Department’s office of the inspector general that alleges CertiPath failed to disclose that “one of the President’s closest living relatives stood to benefit financially from the transaction,” according to a company of the complaint obtained by the Washington Post.
“The circumstances of this contract award, and what appear to be CertiPath’s efforts to obscure Mr. Robert Trump’s financial interest in the company even as it trades on the Trump name, present the appearance of preferential treatment for those who are close to the President,” the complaint says.
Jeff Nigriny, the president of CertiPath, described Trump as “exclusively a passive investor” who “has no management role whatsoever, is not an officer or director, and his name has never been used or mentioned by CertiPath in any solicitation for a government contract, whether state or federal.”
He said the company was not aware of the complaint.
“CertiPath has never used the Trump name in any way, and to do so would be completely inconsistent with our business practices and ethics,” Nigriny added.
CertiPath has not yet collected any money from the contract because a second company, NMR Consulting of Chantilly, Virginia, also filed a complaint against it with the Government Accountability Office in July.
“There’s no money being spent with CertiPath until this issue is resolved,” Drew Wade, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, said.
Wade said the U.S. Marshals Service did not know a member of the president’s family was involved with CertiPath and also was not aware of the complaint filed to the inspector general. He said the NMR complaint “has nothing to do with the president or his relationships.”
Trump, 71, reportedly lives in New York and is the president of Trump Management, a company listed on the president’s financial disclosure form.
