While airlines in the US were grounded and thousands of flights were canceled and delayed over the holiday weekend, Biden’s pick to run the FAA continues to be grounded in corruption.
TGP reported in September that Biden’s FAA Nominee Phillip Washington was served a warrant for his actions while at the Los Angeles County Metro Transit Authority.
Search Warrant Served To Biden’s FAA Nominee Around Claims Of “Corrupt Contracting Process”
The situation has only gotten worse.
(Cece Woods at The Current Report released an exclusive for The Current Report and TNT Radio originally airing on 12/28/22. Parts of her column are printed below with permission.)
Over the Christmas holiday, air travelers scrambled amidst the chaos of winter storms and the unprecedented last minute cancellation of all flights by Southwest Airlines. , the result was thousands of stranded and disgruntled passengers. And now it looks like the future of the FAA, without leadership since March, looks even more bleak as embattled former LA Metro CEO Phillip Washington’s nomination to head the agency will be back on the president’s desk.
Biden hand-picked Washington in July to head the FAA despite the knowledge of multiple on-going local and federal criminal investigations which have resulted in setbacks and lengthening the confirmation process.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, who heads the panel that overseas the FAA, said she planned to hold a hearing for the current Denver International Airport CEO to head the FAA after the new Congress convenes in January. However, before those hearings can take place, under Senate Rule 31, Biden will have to renominate Washington.
“The F.A.A. has a crucial safety mandate, and filling this role remains a serious priority for the Biden administration,” said White House spokeswoman, Olivia Dalton. Yet the agency continues to go without leadership going on a year now.
Washington’s history with the Biden administration goes back to 2020 where he lead the transition team for Transportation, which included the FAA, with no aviation experience at the time. Only in the past year has he delved into the industry sliding into the CEO spot Denver’s International Airport. To many, including members of the Senate Committee (other than Cantwell) Washington’s lack of experience presents numerous red flags when considering the experience of former heads of the FAA who have been CEOs of major airlines and/or have extensive aviation experience in the military.
Aside from Washington’s troubling lack of aviation experience which is vital when you are responsible for the health and safety of millions of passengers, is the public corruption, fraud, abuse, and discrimination allegations.
On September 14th, as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department descended upon multiple locations serving criminal warrants including LA Metro Headquarters, mainstream media has led us to believe the corruption at LA Metro under Washington was merely a “dispute” between former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and disgraced former supervisor Sheila Kuehl.
However, when we remove the false political narrative crafted by the White House under the President and in collaboration with current leaders in LA Politics including Barack Obama’s former labor secretary and current LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a bigger story of gender discrimination, anti-semitism and attacks against the LGBTQ and AAPI communities emerges.
The Current Report broke the story of the raids and the LA County Sheriff’s Department served criminal warrants on LA Metro Headquarters shortly after 7 AM.
BREAKING: #LASD serving warrants in multiple locations in the criminal case involving @metrolosangeles @SheilaKuehl , Patti Giggans, @PeaceOvrViolnce & Phil Washington currently in nomination process by @JoeBiden for head of FAA. pic.twitter.com/cnu4ncwse3
— Cece Woods (@ceceswoods) September 14, 2022
Washington was named in the criminal warrants along with then LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and her friend and CEO of Peace Over Violence, Patti Giggans. The local criminal investigation spanning three-years under the supervision of Undersheriff Tim Murakami, resulted in Sheriff deputies executing warrants at multiple locations which included the homes of Supervisor Kuehl and Giggans. Deputies seized documents and evidence to support allegations of fraud, abuse and Pay-to-Play at LA Metro.
Shortly after the warrants made national news, sources inside the White House told The Current Report members of the Secret Service delivered copies of the warrant to President Biden who sources say ordered an investigation as to why the FBI was not involved.
Multiple DC agencies and watchdog organizations reached out to The Current Report shortly after Washington’s nomination in July after making startling discoveries online of Washington’s alleged criminal activities including the counterfeit mask cover-up exposed by The Current Report. Our story led to two federal investigations.
The criminal warrants naming Washington lead to a statement released by Senator Robert Wicker, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, whose office contacted The Current Report shortly before its official release:
“When Mr. Washington was nominated in July, I expressed my skepticism surrounding his lack of experience in aviation. Now I am deeply troubled to learn the nominee was named in a search warrant that ties him to allegations of corruption at LA Metro,” Wicker said. “The committee’s vetting process will require additional scrutiny and review into his leadership at LA Metro. I anticipate that this nominee’s credibility will also be a key focus of the committee.”
…On November 1st, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, who heads the panel that overseas the FAA met with whistleblowers regarding Phillip Washington’s alleged misconduct and corruption at LA Metro.
Despite being informed of additional allegations of gender discrimination, antisemitism and attacks on the LGBTQ and AAPI community during that meeting, Cantwell continued with her support for Washington and announced she planned to hold a hearing for Washington to head the FAA after the new Congress convenes in January.
Cantwell and her office seem to be unconcerned by Washington’s egregious behavior and during the meetings with the whistleblowers, Ronce Almond, Senior Counsel at the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Aviation equated the alleged gender discrimination against woman as “funny” even going as far as calling it “dark humor”.
Biden has not changed his choice for FAA Commissioner despite Phillip Washington being embattled in corruption cases in LA.
The US Senate and Biden want to go ahead with Washington’s nomination. The law doesn’t matter to the Biden gang.
(See more at the Current Report.)
