New details are coming into focus about a longtime Donald Trump donor whose company landed a no-bid federal contract to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in what has turned out to be an over-budget, ongoing debacle.
The National Park Service awarded the $1.7 million contract to what has turned out to be the ironically named Greenwater Services, bypassing the competitive bidding process normally required for federal work. The New York Times reported the company is led by Republican donor and Mar-a-Lago neighbor John J. Cafaro, whom Trump once called a "fantastic man."
The J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust, which owns Greenwater Services, lists Cafaro's Palm Beach mansion and trust contact information appear on the company's corporate filings.
Cafaro has donated more than $300,000 to Trump-connected political committees since 2016 and has known Trump for at least a decade. He pleaded guilty in 2001 to conspiring to bribe then-Rep. James Traficant, an Ohio Democrat, and later testified against him.
The Park Service justified skipping competitive bidding by citing time pressure tied to events marking the country's 250th anniversary, though it didn't specify a deadline. Records show multiple firms had expressed interest in the project before the contract went to Greenwater, which had previously received only one other federal contract.
Algae blooms turned the pool green this week after it was refilled following the renovation, and about half the pool remained green Thursday as crews vacuumed out algae and added hydrogen peroxide in an attempt to control it.
The Interior Department said a permanent purification system was expected to be installed this week, but did not explain why the pool was refilled before that system was in place — a decision that left it vulnerable to exactly the blue-green algae bloom that followed.
A separate no-bid contract, worth $14.7 million, went to a Virginia firm to waterproof the pool's floor with blue coating. That work also appears to be faltering, as a section of the coating was seen detached and floating on the surface this week.
Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin said the agency was unaware of Cafaro's political ties when it selected the firm, adding that "this company was selected because they had the expertise, work force and materials" to meet the timeline.
Both the department and the White House said the White House was not involved in choosing the contractor. Neither Greenwater Services nor Cafaro responded to requests for comment from the Times.
The name of the company, as well as Cafaro's flamboyant appearance and checkered background, astonished social media users.
"Wait, the company that renovated the reflecting pool is literally called 'Greenwater Services?'" wrote author Eric Nelson. "That can’t be true."
"Ya can’t make this stuff up," marveled Times editor Jonathan Weisman.
"So wait have I been sleeping on this or are we all just finding out that the company that did the reflecting pool is called Greenwater Services? Because come on," laughed journalist Molly Wood. "The writers are getting way too obvious."
"This your taxpayers dollars which cost $13.1 million for the renovations for a reflecting pool, (I smell corruption)," noted construction company owner Wade Williams. "The project also included a new water purification system, which was to be installed by Ohio-based company Greenwater Services."
Podcaster SLCLunk laughed, "There is no way the guy who got the no-bid contract for using bottom shelf Home Depot sealant on the reflecting pool looks like this. ... Coen brothers 2nd Act comic relief character -ss look."