The Trump Administration’s coronavirus bailout program handed out up to $5 million to prop up Kanye West’s production company while also pushing out funds to the law firm of Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, the Treasury revealed Monday.
The loans were part of a rush to inject billions into businesses as the coronavirus pandemic hit, in an attempt to prevent mass layoffs which could hobble the national economy for years.
With the economy faltering and coronavirus cases on the rise, the Small Business Administration provided the loans to aid small and medium-sized companies, ranging from financial firms to restaurants, bars and lounges.
Following mounting pressure to disclose specifically which businesses received loans through the Payment Protection Program (PPP) – established by President Trump’s CARES Act – the government released records on Monday listing every recipient.
West’s production and clothing company Yeezy, got a loan of between $2 million and $5 million, the records show. As with other loans, it was meant to prevent layoffs, under terms that can allow the loans to be forgiven in the future.
Kim Kardashian and husband, US rapper Kanye West (R), attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 92nd annual Academy Awards ceremony, in Beverly Hills, California, USA, 09 February 2020 (reissued 05 July 2020). Kanye West’s Yeezy company got government loans of up to $5 million that saved up to 160 jobs, according to administration documents released Monday
Yeezy’s loan resulted in the preservation of 160 jobs, according to a filing released by the Small Business Administration Monday.
West Tweeted on July 4 that he was running for president, although he faces obstacles including expired filing deadlines in many states, in what would be a long-shot bit.
Another high-profile recipient of the scheme was West’s sister-in-law, Khloe Kardashian, whose denim brand Good American received between $1 million and $2 million.
It’s reported that Good American, which Khloe co-owns with Emma Grede, saved 57 jobs using the funds.
Neither Kardashian or Grede has taken a paycheck since the coronavirus pandemic began, the company said in a statement.
‘Due to the dramatic global impacts of COVID-19, the Good American business took a significant hit,’ a company spokesperson told PEOPLE. ‘We have a large wholesale footprint and all of our partners were forced to close their stores, with many shutting down warehouses and canceling orders.
‘Applying for and receiving the PPP loan was a necessary step we had to take to ensure the long-term survival of our brand and business,’ the spokesperson continued. ‘We are incredibly grateful to have received the loan as it has allowed us to maintain our employees’ salaries and support our team.’
Some 51.1 million jobs were protected by a high-profile pandemic aid program, the Trump administration said on Monday as it revealed how a firehose of $521.4 billion in taxpayer cash washed across the landscape of America’s small businesses.
Another high-profile recipient of the scheme was West’s sister-in-law, Khloe Kardashian, whose denim brand Good American received between $1 million and $2 million. It’s reported that Good American, which Khloe co-owns with Emma Grede, saved 57 jobs using that loan
West Tweeted on July 4 that he was running for president, although he faces obstacles including expired filing deadlines in many states
Another recipient was the law firm of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP. That is the firm founded by longtime Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz, who advised Trump during impeachment and on other matters.
The data underlined that in addition to mom-and-pop shops, the funds went to several well-heeled and politically connected companies, some of which got between $5 million and $10 million. Those include firms which lobby in Washington such as Wiley Rein LLP and APCO Worldwide. Another big firm getting a loan was Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.
Sidwell Friends School, an exclusive private school which educated former President Barack Obama’s daughters, took out a loan for between $5 million and $10 million, as did Saint Ann´s School in Brooklyn, which – with tuition exceeding $50,000 per year – is attended by the children of hedge fund managers and celebrities.
The St. Andrew’s Episcopal School attended by Barron Trump, son of the president and first lady Melania Trump, got a loan valued at between $2 million and $5 million.
Some investment firms, such as those that run hedge funds for wealthy clients, also received checks. That included Advent Capital Management LLC, a New York-based debt investor with $9 billion in assets; Metacapital Management LP, a New York-based fixed income investor with more than $1 billion in assets; and Semper Capital Management LP, which invests nearly $4 billion in mortgage-backed securities.
None of those companies or schools immediately responded to a request for comment.
Observer Holdings LLC, the company once headed by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, also got a loan, the DailyBeast reported. Joseph Meyer, who is married to Kushner’s sister Nicole, has an ownership interest in its investment firm. Kushner himself divested from the company and it was sold to a family trust when he joined the White House.
Another company where the Kushner family has substantial holdings, Princeton Forestall LLC, got a loan of $1 million to $2 million. An additional firm with Kushner ties, Livingston LLC, got $350,000 to $1 million.
The Daily Caller, founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, got up to $1 million, while Newsmax, a conservative outlet touted by Trump on Twitter Monday, got a loan of $2 million to $5 million. Owner Christopher Ruddy is a Mar-a-Lago member and longtime Trump advisor.
A firm linked to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also got a loan, Bloomberg News reported. EDI Associates got a loan of between $350,000 and $1 million. Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, is an investor in the firm, which was listed on the speaker’s financial disclosure. She valued the investment at between $250,000 and $500,000.
Also getting a loan was Grover Norquist’s group Americans for Tax Reform, which has spent years pushing for tax cuts and small government.
President Donald Trump’s attorney Marc Kasowitz leaves New York state appellate court, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, in New York, as Trump’s team sought to dismiss or delay Summer Zervos’ claim that he defamed her by calling her a liar after she accused him of unwanted kissing and groping. Kasowitz’ law firm also got a PPP loan, documents reveal
The prestigious Sidwell Friends school attended by the Obama children got a PPP loan
A group headed by another prominent figure connected to Trump world, David Bossie’s Americans United, also got a loan.
The colossal data set released by the Trump administration after some initial resistance, gives Americans their first full look at who got cash from the first-come-first-served program that has been dogged by technology, paperwork and fairness issues.
Senior administration officials at the U.S. Treasury Department and Small Business Administration (SBA), which jointly administered the Paycheck Protection Program, hailed it as a “wild success,” supporting about 84% of all small business employees.
To date, the SBA has released broad distribution figures for states, industries and the largest lenders. But the new data paints a much more detailed picture of which local communities and sub-sectors received support and whether it helped save jobs.
The Treasury and SBA released data for more than 660,000 loans of $150,000 or more, including recipient name, address, lender, business type, jobs supported, and some demographic information. That accounts for roughly 73% of the dollars granted, but only 14% of the 4.9 million loans, according to a summary of data the agencies released on Monday.
While the data does not say exactly how much money each borrower received, borrowers are placed in one of five bands: $150,000-350,000; $350,000-1 million; $1-2 million; $2-5 million; and $5-10 million. More than 4,800 loans were issued in the top band, while the overall average loan size was $107,000, the data shows. The Treasury released aggregate data on loans below $150,000 but did not name the borrowers.
Despite some eyebrow-raising recipients, the funds reached a wide swath of businesses – more than $67 billion for the healthcare and social assistance sector, $64 billion-plus for construction businesses, $54 billion for manufacturing and, at the smaller end, more than $7 billion for religious organizations, the data showed.
JP MorganChase accounted for $29 billion in loans, which were administered by private institutions in an effort to speed up the flow of funding
The loans went out across the country as the pandemic hit
They went to industries including retail, construction, arts, and finance
LINGERING QUESTIONS
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had initially refused to name any recipients, saying it could expose borrowers’ proprietary business information, particularly if they are sole proprietors and independent contractors. Under pressure from lawmakers, he agreed to shine a light on large borrowers.
Launched in April, the unprecedented program allows small businesses hurt by the pandemic to apply for a forgivable government-backed loan from a lender.
More than 5,000 U.S. lenders participated in the program, with JPMorgan – the country´s largest bank by assets – accounting for $29 billion in loans. JPMorgan, Bank of America, Truist Bank, PNC Bank and Wells Fargo originated 17% of total PPP loans, according to the data.
In the scramble to distribute funds, the program was beset by technology glitches, documentation snags and revelations that some lenders prioritized their most profitable clients, leading to some affluent companies receiving funds while less well-heeled borrowers missed out.
There have been lingering questions over whether the most needy benefited, which are only likely to be compounded by Monday’s new data.
Roughly $30 billion worth of loans have been returned or canceled, a senior administration official said. Those include loans taken by large or publicly listed companies which attracted fierce criticism for breaching the spirit of the rules, as well as duplicate loans issued to borrowers that applied with more than one lender or companies that decided they did not want or need the loan after all.
The data shows loans that have been approved by the SBA, but does not provide information on those which have been forgiven so far. Loans that appear to breach the letter or spirit of the rules may not be forgiven, and senior administration officials confirmed on Monday that they still intended to conduct a full review of loans of more than $2 million.
The Department of Justice has already brought charges against several PPP borrowers for fraudulently seeking loans, while the Securities and Exchange Commission has also begun scrutinizing companies whose public disclosures may have been inconsistent with the declaration of need borrowers were required to make when seeking the loans.