A company tied to President Trump’s younger brother is said to have been awarded a $33million government contract earlier this year, according to a rival bidder who filed a complaint alleging favoritism.
The Washington Post reported that the Reston, Virginia-based CertiPath, which is owned by a firm tied to Robert Trump, was given the lucrative US Marshals Service contract in June.
Robert is said to have a stake in CertiPath – said to specialize in digital security and verifying online identities – through SHiRT LLC, in investment partnership which includes Robert and CertiPath’s chief executive, Shawn R. Hughes.
A rival bidder filed a complaint with the inspector general claiming that a company awarded a $33million government contract failed to disclose it had ties to President Trump’s (left) younger brother, Robert Trump (right)
CertiPath was said to have been acquired by SHiRT LLC and another company in 2013.
The contract was supposedly to upgrade and manage ‘physical access control systems’ for the US Marshals at federal courthouses, cell blocks and firing ranges.
An anonymous rival bidder for the contract was said to have filed a complaint with the Justice Department’s office of the inspector general, claiming that CertiPath failed to disclose that ‘one of the President’s closest living relatives stood to benefit financially from the transaction.’
The complaint, which the Washington Post obtained from the unnamed company’s law firm, was dated July 22.
President Trump’s (left) brother, Robert (right), is said to have a stake in CertiPath through an investment partnership he has with the company’s chief executive
It’s unclear what percentage stake Robert (left, pictured hugging President Trump in 2016) has in CertiPath, which claims that it has never tried to leverage its Trump connection and that Robert has ‘no management role whatsoever’
Prior to the June contract, CertiPath had received $6million in government contracts since President Trump took office in 2017. Since Robert’s investment in the company started in 2013, it has banked $13million in federal contracts
The complaint was also said to have stated that CertiPath appeared to ‘obscure Mr. Robert Trump’s financial interest in the company even as it trades on the Trump name’ which it claimed presented ‘the appearance of preferential treatment for those who are close to the President.’
There only mention of Robert Trump on CertiPath’s company description website page is under Hughes’ biography, in which it’s mentioned that Hughes is the ‘Managing Partner of SHiRT LLC, an investment partnership with Robert S. Trump.’
There is no indication of what Robert’s ownership percentage of CertiPath.
CertiPath president and founder Jeff Nigriny downplayed Robert’s involvement with the company, telling the newspaper in a statement that Robert ‘is one investor in an entity which holds a minority interest in Certipath.’
Nigriny went on to call Robert ‘exclusively a passive investor’ and noted that he has ‘no management role whatsoever’ and that CertiPath had and has never used his name while bidding for a government contract.
‘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 said in the statement.
Nigriny also claimed to have been unaware of the complaint filed with the inspector general.
The complaint letter stated that CertiPath appeared to ‘lack the basic program management skills and experience required to provide the physical security’ that the Marshals needed, a claim that Nigriny disputed.
Since President Trump took office in 2017, federal data indicates that CertiPath has received more than $6million in government contracts. Since 2013, CertiPath appears to have received $13million in federal contracts.
Prior to the anonymous company’s complaint, another company – NMR Consulting – was said to have filed a complaint against the bid with the Government Accountability Office.
NMR Consulting is an information technology firm which specializing in risk management and security consulting.
That complaint, which was lodged on July 1, was said to have led to a ‘stop work order,’ a spokesperson of the US Marshals Service told the Washington Post.
The spokesperson said that the NMR complaint was unrelated to President Trump or his relationships, however.
The spokesperson said that the Marshals were unaware that one of President Trump’s relatives had a financial interest in CertiPath and was unaware of the July 22 inspector general complaint.
The spokesperson told the newspaper that the US Marshals haven’t give CertiPath any money yet and won’t ‘until this issue is resolved.’
The Washington Post said that as of Saturday, the inspector general’s office has not started a review of the complaint.
Robert Trump’s office, the White House, the inspector general and NMR did not respond or declined to comment further to the newspaper.