There was already something very fishy about Donald Trump lavishing $765 million of taxpayer money on “Kodak Pharmaceuticals” Tuesday, but a huge increase in trading volume on Monday suggests an even bigger stink.
July 30, 2020

While Trump has refused to heed calls to invoke the Defense Production Act for the manufacture of PPE and COVID-19 testing supplies, he suddenly gifted Kodak, the camera people, with a $765M loan for a not-yet established division to start producing ingredients for pharmaceuticals.

The Washington Post notes that the lender, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, or DFC, “normally funds infrastructure and other projects in the developing world. But in an executive order signed in May, President Trump gave DFC new powers under the Defense Production Act to finance domestic health-care manufacturing needed to respond to the coronavirus crisis.”

In his comments about the award, Trump praised the “extraordinary leadership” of Kodak and said they have hired “some of the best people in the world to be taking care of that company and watching that company, watching over it.”

But Trump never said why Kodak, as opposed to any of the already-established pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., will make the best use of our $765 million.

If your Spidey senses are not already tingling with suspicion, get a load of what looks like massive insider trading on Monday, the day before Trump’s announcement:

And the massive profits:

Kodak CEO James Continenza claims he has no idea what happened. He told CNBC’s Joe Kernan that the deal was “a pretty tight-kept secret” and “I couldn’t tell you what influenced that or didn’t.”

“It doesn’t look like it was a well-kept secret,” Kernen shot back.

If you don’t think that Trump and/or his family have somehow benefitted from this deal, then I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

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