\n<\/p>\n
The US senator Sheldon Whitehouse has sent a letter to the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts detailing allegations from whistleblowers that some renovations were \u201crushed\u201d and federal contracting laws \u201cwere ignored\u201d to get the center ready for events, including for Donald Trump to receive the Fifa \u201cpeace prize\u201d during the World Cup draw he hosted there in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have received allegations that the Kennedy Center has conducted rushed renovation and maintenance work with disregard to its commitments to Congress and the federal contracting standards the Center has long applied to its own procurements,\u201d the Rhode Island Democrat wrote in the letter<\/a> dated Thursday.<\/p>\n Whitehouse said that the allegations stem from a whistleblower disclosure submitted to him by the Government Accountability Project, and said that the disclosure conveys \u201cthe firsthand accounts of multiple former Center project managers, supported by contemporaneous documents and photographs\u201d and \u201cdescribes conduct sharply at odds with both the procurement standards the Center has long applied and the representations it has made to Congress\u201d.<\/p>\n The senator wrote that the whistleblower disclosure includes allegations that \u201ca cosmetic and rushed revamp of the Center\u2019s Reflecting Pool is already rusting and peeling, and will need to be fully rebuilt\u201d, and that Trump\u2019s \u201cpreferred contractor cut corners when repainting the Center\u2019s columns, sticking taxpayers with the repair bill\u201d.<\/p>\n Also among the whistleblowers\u2019 claims detailed in the letter are allegations that \u201can $8m no-bid flooring contract went to a firm with no apparent concert-hall experience\u201d, and that the Kennedy Center \u201ctore out a brand-new bathroom floor because President Trump didn\u2019t like the color\u201d.<\/p>\n Whitehouse also said whistleblowers alleged that the Kennedy Center \u201crewrote its own contracting rules in a post hoc effort to justify the no-bid contracts awarded to facilitate the rushed renovations\u201d.<\/p>\n The allegations, Whitehouse said, raise \u201cserious questions about the Center\u2019s leadership and the Board\u2019s financial management of the Kennedy Center and whether the Center\u2019s representations to Congress were made in good faith\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of pursuing renovations tailored to the building\u2019s actual needs, the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President\u2019s aesthetic whims and his desire to star in a series of televised events in December,\u201d said Whitehouse, who is the ranking member of the Senate committee on environment and public Works. \u201cThe Center\u2019s subservience to the President\u2019s desires and its corner-cutting contracting practices have resulted in steel columns that are rusting through fresh paint, a reflecting pool that may have to be torn out and rebuilt, and a brand-new bathroom floor torn out over an offending tile color.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is waste, and it treats a national memorial to President Kennedy as if it were a private renovation project,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n In the letter, Whitehouse requested documents and answers to a series of questions from the executive director of the center by 23 July.<\/p>\n The Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. But earlier on Saturday, it defended its practices in a statement to the New York Times<\/a>, saying that it operates with rigorous financial oversight, and said that the whistleblowers\u2019 claims that the contracting standards had been bypassed were not correct.<\/p>\n \u201cAs America\u2019s cultural center, the institution makes every decision guided by responsible stewardship and an unwavering commitment to its patrons and the nation it proudly serves,\u201d Roma Daravi, a spokesperson for the center who was a White House communications staffer during Trump\u2019s first term, said. \u201cWe remain fully committed to transparency and to delivering the critical improvements that will preserve this institution for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a statement to the Times on Saturday in response to the allegations, a White House spokesperson accused previous Kennedy Center leadership for allowing the center to fall into disrepair.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump did what Democrats wouldn\u2019t,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cAfter decades of neglect, he committed the bold leadership and proper resources to fix the Kennedy Center and start the renovations of the finest performing arts facility in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter comes after last year, Trump secured $257m from Congress for repairs and restoration at the center.<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a> issued Saturday, Representative Rick Larsen, the senior Democrat on the House infrastructure committee, said that the \u201cKennedy Center whistleblower allegations are serious and concerning\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Board of Trustees have the opportunity to focus on addressing these allegations and ensuring the $257 million Congress approved for renovations are used for legitimate, necessary repairs instead of cosmetic nickel and dime fixes that don\u2019t last,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The US senator Sheldon Whitehouse has sent a letter to the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts detailing allegations from whistleblowers that some renovations were \u201crushed\u201d and federal contracting laws \u201cwere ignored\u201d to get the center ready for events, including for Donald Trump to receive the Fifa \u201cpeace prize\u201d during the World Cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10666],"tags":[2708,902,719,979,2707,569,2321,4254,25212,473,25213],"class_list":["post-35303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reparations","tag-center","tag-ceremony","tag-donald","tag-fifa","tag-kennedy","tag-peace","tag-prize","tag-renovations","tag-rushed","tag-trump","tag-whistleblowers"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/837ea8ed54fdfc46c17143e064e4f355df607598\/346_0_3462_2769\/master\/3462.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=ffb3a1c72804e1681b614770328c5377",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"REPARATIONS NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The US senator Sheldon Whitehouse has sent a letter to the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts detailing allegations from whistleblowers that some renovations were \u201crushed\u201d and federal contracting laws \u201cwere ignored\u201d to get the center ready for events, including for Donald Trump to receive the Fifa \u201cpeace prize\u201d during the World Cup…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35305,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35303\/revisions\/35305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}