The Honorable David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States (October 5, 2021)

Summary

A letter dated October 5, 2021 from Chairman James E. Clyburn of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis to The Honorable David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, National Archives and Records Administration. The letter states that the Select Subcommittee launched an investigation on June 3, 2021 into a $700 million loan to YRC Worldwide, now named Yellow Corporation, and that new evidence indicates former White House officials may have been involved in helping Yellow obtain the loan. It requests, by November 5, 2021, White House communications, calendar entries, notes and memoranda dated March 1, 2020 to January 20, 2021 concerning Yellow Corporation, any CARES Act national security loan application, or Apollo Global Management.

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Issuer: Congressional materials
Document type: 2021 10 05 2021 10 05 Clyburn To Ferriero Re Treasury Nat Sec Loans
Date: 2021-10-05
Case: 2021 10 05 2021 10 05 Clyburn To Ferriero Re Treasury Nat Sec Loans

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“The Honorable David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States (October 5, 2021).” Dated 2021-10-05. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2021-10-05-2021-10-05-2021-10-05-clyburn-to-ferriero-re-treasury-nat-sec-loans/, SHA-256 8deedc6c9eb2f4361b16b2dd76c174963bafcd7d32c18327199f351e32b0e492.

Full text

                                                 October 5, 2021

The Honorable David S. Ferriero
Archivist of the United States
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740

Dear Archivist Ferriero:

        The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis is investigating waste, fraud, and
abuse in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and other pandemic
relief programs. On June 3, 2021, the Select Subcommittee launched an investigation into a
$700 million loan awarded by the Trump Administration to trucking company YRC Worldwide,
now named Yellow Corporation (Yellow).1 This loan constituted 95% of the $735.9 million
disbursed as part of a CARES Act program for businesses critical to maintaining U.S. national
security to offset losses caused by the pandemic.2 Troubling reports have called into question
Yellow’s eligibility for and use of those funds and raised concerns that the Department of the
Treasury (Treasury) under the Trump Administration improperly approved this substantial
national security loan to Yellow. The Select Subcommittee has obtained new evidence
indicating that former White House officials may have been involved in helping Yellow to obtain
this loan. Accordingly, we write to you to request Presidential archives necessary for the Select
Subcommittee to conduct its investigation.

        As the Subcommittee detailed in its June 3 letter to Yellow, evidence suggests there is
serious reason to doubt that Yellow was “critical to maintaining national security”—a
requirement for the CARES Act loan—yet the Department of Defense (DOD) certified that
Yellow was critical to the maintenance of national security, and Treasury relied on this
certification in approving the loan. Despite the CARES Act requirement that loans be made to
offset “losses incurred as a result of the coronavirus,” Yellow used about half of its loan funds
for long-term capital investment.3

         1
           Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Press Release: Select Subcommittee Launches
Investigation into $700 Million Loan Issued by Trump Administration to Troubled Trucking Company (June 3,
2021) (online at https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/select-subcommittee-launches-investigation-700-
million-loan-issued-trump).
         2
           Department of the Treasury, Loans to Air Carriers, Eligible Businesses, and National Security Businesses
(online at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-industry/loans-to-air-carriers-eligible-
businesses-and-national-security-businesses) (updated January 21, 2021).
         3
         Letter from Chairman James E. Clyburn, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, to Mr. Darren
Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer, Yellow Corporation (June 3, 2021) (online at
The Honorable David S. Ferriero
Page 2


        New documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee show that Trump White House
officials directly engaged with Yellow and its representatives regarding the company’s
application for this national security loan, took steps to communicate with Treasury officials
regarding the loan application, and received communications from Treasury regarding the loan.
For example, a document obtained by the Select Subcommittee indicates that former Deputy
Assistant to the President Tim Pataki “committed to huddle with [White House political director]
Brian Jack and then he would call Treasury on [Yellow’s] behalf.”4 Another document shows
that Special Assistant to the President Joseph Russo later asked Yellow to specifically identify
the company’s contacts at Treasury.5 Other documents show that Yellow had continued contact
with other White House offices and officials—including the Chief of Staff to National Economic
Council (NEC) Director Larry Kudlow—as it sought a loan from Treasury, and that the “White
House remains engaged and has been calling for updates frequently.”6 These documents are
consistent with public records, which show that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent
messages to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, NEC Director Kudlow, and President
Trump’s personal assistant concerning the announcement of the loan to Yellow, suggesting that
the highest-ranking White House officials may have been involved in the process of approving
Yellow’s loan.7

       The White House’s involvement in this matter is particularly concerning because of the
potential conflict of interest presented by any involvement of White House Advisor Jared
Kushner in the decision to make the loan to Yellow. In late 2019, shortly before the onset of the
pandemic, Apollo Global Management LLC (Apollo) led a group that provided Yellow with a

https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/2021-06-
03.Clyburn%20to%20Hawkins%20re%20Yellow%20Nat%20Sec%20Loans%20%281%29.pdf).
          4
            Email from Erskine Wells, President, BGR Group, to Mike Kelley, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP
External Affairs, YRC Worldwide et al. (May 6, 2020) (online at
https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/1.%20Email%20from%20Erskine%20We
lls%2C%20BGRC%2C%20to%20Todd%20Metcalf%20and%20Rohit%20Kumar%2C%20PwC%2C%20and%20M
ike%20Kelley%2C%20YRC%20Worldwide%20%28May%206%2C%202020%29.pdf).
          5
            Email from Special Assistant to the President Joseph Russo, White House, to Mike Kelley, Chief
Sustainability Officer and VP External Affairs, YRC Worldwide (May 27, 2020) (online at
https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/2. Email from Special Assistant to the
President Joseph Russo%2C to Mike Kelley%2C YRC.pdf).
          6
            Email from Erskine Wells, President, BGR Group, to Mike Kelley, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP
External Affairs, YRC Worldwide, et al. (May 4, 2020) (online at
https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/3-4. Wells%2C Kelley%2C Metcalf%2C
Kumar%2C Bailey.pdf); Email from Mike Kelley, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP External Affairs, YRC
Worldwide, to Christy Bailey, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (May 4, 2020) (online at
https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/3-4. Wells%2C Kelley%2C Metcalf%2C
Kumar%2C Bailey.pdf).
        7
           Email from Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Department of the Treasury, to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows,
Executive Assistant to the President Molly A. Michael, and Assistant to the President Larry Kudlow, White House
(July 1, 2020) (online at www.documentcloud.org/documents/20989594-treas-20-0568-bcd#document/p1); Email
from Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Department of the Treasury, to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Executive
Assistant to the President Molly Michael, White House (July 1, 2020) (online at
www.documentcloud.org/documents/20989594-treas-20-0568-bcd#document/p1).
The Honorable David S. Ferriero
Page 3

$600 million lifeline loan, giving Apollo a significant interest in Yellow’s viability.8 In late
2017, Apollo had loaned $184 million to Kushner’s family business—in which Kushner
maintained a significant personal interest—after Kushner met with an Apollo founder on
multiple occasions in his capacity as a White House advisor. Shortly after the passage of the
CARES Act, Apollo reportedly emailed Kushner and other government officials advocating for
relaxed risk requirements in a pandemic loan program that Apollo stood to benefit from,
suggesting the company may also have lobbied Kushner in other situations where the company
had a financial interest in the administration of pandemic relief programs.9

        The Select Subcommittee’s review of Trump Administration White House records is
necessary to determine whether White House officials pressured or directed Treasury to
disregard CARES Act requirements related to Yellow’s eligibility for and use of national
security loan funds. Under the Presidential Records Act, those documents are now in the
possession, custody, or control of the National Archives and Records Administration.

       Please produce, by November 5, 2021, the following documents dated from March 1,
2020, to January 20, 2021:

        1.       All communications of White House officials (including, but not limited to,
                 emails, email attachments, text messages, and other electronic messages sent
                 through applications such as Signal, WhatsApp, or similar platforms) regarding (i)
                 the Yellow Corporation (previously named YRC Worldwide inc.), (ii) any
                 application for a loan through the CARES Act national security loan program, or
                 (iii) Apollo Global Management; and

        2.       All calendar entries, calendar invitations, notes memorializing communications,
                 and memoranda of White House officials concerning (i) the Yellow Corporation
                 (previously named YRC Worldwide inc.), (ii) any application for a loan through
                 the CARES Act national security loan program, or (iii) Apollo Global
                 Management.

        These requests are consistent with the House’s authorization of the Select Subcommittee
on the Coronavirus Crisis “to conduct a full and complete investigation” of “issues related to the
coronavirus crisis,” including “reports of waste, fraud, abuse, price gouging, profiteering, or
other abusive practices related to the coronavirus crisis,” and the “efficiency, effectiveness,




        8
           Mnuchin Questioned on Treasury Loan to Apollo-Backed Firm, Bloomberg (Dec. 10, 2020) (online at
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-10/mnuchin-questioned-on-favorable-loan-to-apollo-backed-firm);
Watchdog Raises Possible Kushner Link to $700 Million Rescue Loan, Associated Press (Dec. 10, 2020) (online at
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-coronavirus-pandemic-trucking-jared-kushner-national-security-
7e86f52d4bea1bdccfab30ac74767318).
        9
          Seeking Coronavirus Relief, Investment Firm with Ties to Kushner Emails Kushner, Trump Admin, NBC
News (Apr. 4, 2020) (online at www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/seeking-coronavirus-relief-investment-firm-
ties-kushner-emails-kushner-trump-n1176686).
The Honorable David S. Ferriero
Page 4

equity, and transparency of the use of taxpayer funds and relief programs to address the
coronavirus crisis.”10

      An attachment to this letter provides additional instructions for responding to the Select
Subcommittee’s request. If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Select
Subcommittee staff at (202) 225-4400.

                                                      Sincerely,



                                                      __________________________
                                                      James E. Clyburn
                                                      Chairman

Enclosure

cc:    The Honorable Steve Scalise, Ranking Member




       10
            H.R. 8, sec. 4(f), 117th Cong. (2021); H.R. 935, 116th Cong. (2020).

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