Dont ComplyProPublica reported that XpresTest, a subsidiary of XWELL, won a $18.8 million CDC contract for Ebola entry screening and a $20 million State Department award for outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The awards followed a roughly $30 million investment in XWELL by American Ventures, a fund launched by Dominari Holdings, which hired Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump as advisers. XWELL's CEO, Ezra Ernst, said the contracts were won competitively but acknowledged overseas work is new for the company and said, "I'm not sure we can do it." The State Department said its award was competitive. The CDC did not respond. A spokesperson for the Trump sons said they are passive minority investors with no involvement in the contracts and have broken no laws.
Why it matters
The oversight failure sits with the agencies: the CDC gave an $18.8 million Ebola entry-screening contract to a company with no Ebola track record and won't answer questions about it, and the State Department added $20 million for outbreak response overseas — work XWELL's own CEO acknowledged is new to the company, saying 'I'm not sure we can do it.' The Trump sons' spokesperson says they are passive minority investors with no involvement in the contracts, and no misconduct has been established.
These are unproven claims, and everyone named is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Researched with AI assistance from the sources listed here and reviewed under our methodology.