Pentagon’s $9B Dell deal sparks Trump conflict of interest concerns

 https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5901889-pentagon-dell-deal-trump-conflict-of-interest/?tbref=hp

The Pentagon’s new $9.7 billion contract with Dell is raising questions about potential conflicts of interest after President Trump touted the company’s products and purchased significant amounts of its stock.

“Awarding a nearly $10 billion contract to a company closely associated with a friend and donor to the president seems like an obvious conflict of interest,” Greg Williams, the director of the Center for Defense Information at the Project on Government Oversight, told The Hill on Friday.

Margaret Dylus-Yukins, senior legal counsel for ethics at Campaign Legal Center, echoed those worries, adding the contract raises conflict of interest concerns for Michael Dell, “who is subject to the federal ethics rules as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).”