{"id":54654,"date":"2021-09-27T15:08:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T15:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/27\/trumps-unofficial-advisors-on-va-had-significant-access-influence-over-policy-report\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:34:23","slug":"trumps-unofficial-advisors-on-va-had-significant-access-influence-over-policy-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/09\/27\/trumps-unofficial-advisors-on-va-had-significant-access-influence-over-policy-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s unofficial advisors on VA had significant access, influence over policy: report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/10\/09\/va-wont-turn-over-documents-related-to-outside-businessmens-influence-on-department-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">trio of executives<\/a> with personal ties to President Donald Trump wielded even more influence over Veterans Affairs policies while he was in office than previously thought, running afoul of federal transparency and lobbying laws, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/news\/press-releases\/committee-chairs-release-new-documents-showing-mar-a-lago-trio-violated\" target=\"_blank\">a new report<\/a> released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result of the Democrat-controlled panel\u2019s months-long investigation found that the arrangement \u201cviolated the law and sought to exert improper influence over government officials to further their own personal interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That included communications with Trump\u2019s daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, using personal email accounts to evade public disclosures of the discussions into department reforms and decisions about upgrading VA\u2019s electronic medical records system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The three men at the center of the controversy \u2014 Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, primary care specialist Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, and attorney Marc Sherman \u2014 were all members of Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in 2017 when Trump tapped them to be unofficial advisors to his administration on VA issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2018\/10\/09\/va-wont-turn-over-documents-related-to-outside-businessmens-influence-on-department-policy\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17117782475113.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA won\u2019t turn over documents related to outside businessmen\u2019s influence on department policy<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Concerns linger over policy discussions between VA officials and three members of Trump&#039;s Mar-a-Lago golf club who have no official government posts.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, White House officials insisted that the arrangement was simply an opportunity for the president and key advisors to gather ideas from outside business experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/ike-perlmutter-bruce-moskowitz-marc-sherman-shadow-rulers-of-the-va\" target=\"_blank\">a ProPublica investigation<\/a> into the group in 2018 found the trio had significant access to and influence over VA officials, without any official public oversight role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Monday\u2019s report, House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., blasted the \u201csecret role\u201d of the men in high-level VA policy discussions, in violation of rules regarding transparency in federal advisory panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That included the men helping steer policy decisions on medical records issues, including potentially monetizing VA patient data. Along with emails to senior VA staff, the trio also frequently contacted senior White House staff on VA policy issues and briefed the president on their proposals, all without any official federal role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In documents released by the committees, White House officials granted the men significant behind-the-scenes access, raising questions among federal employees as to their roles in policy decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/07\/14\/va-scraps-rollout-schedule-of-controversial-new-electronic-medical-records-project\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3139743.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA scraps rollout schedule of controversial new electronic medical records project<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The new timeline for the 10-year, $16-billion project has not yet been settled.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emails released by the panels show concerns among senior VA officials that the group\u2019s work may be in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which outlines procedures for creation and operations of advisory boards to ensure they are acting in the public\u2019s interest. Those questions were dismissed and ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump did not offer a public response to the report. Efforts to reach the three unofficial advisors were not immediately successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maloney and Takano said the new revelations show the need for new legislation to \u201censure the American people know who is providing advice to federal policymakers and require agencies to disclose whether individuals on advisory committees have conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The full set of documents released by the committees is <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/news\/press-releases\/committee-chairs-release-new-documents-showing-mar-a-lago-trio-violated\" target=\"_blank\">available online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Newly released emails show a larger role for the men than previously reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-54654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RBYS4YRPEFEKBAOCEBCMDGP2NY","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2021\/09\/27\/trumps-unofficial-advisors-on-va-had-significant-access-influence-over-policy-report\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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