Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday disputed a Washington Post report that his administration spent $9.46 million on 500,000 faulty coronavirus tests from South Korea earlier this year.
“There have been no faulty or failed Korean tests,” according to the state government website.
The new “Fact vs. Fiction: Maryland’s Successful COVID-19 Testing Strategy” web page comes in response to a Post investigation released Friday.
President Trump tweeted a link Sunday to an article about The Post’s report: “This [Republican In Name Only] will never make the grade. Hogan is just as bad as the flawed tests he paid big money for!”
The Post reported the deal to buy tests from the South Korean company LabGenomics began to take shape in March after a group call with Mr. Hogan; his Korean-born wife, Yumi; and Lee Soo-hyuck, the South Korean ambassador to the United States.
After it was allegedly determined that the tests received in April were defective, Mr. Hogan paid the same company $2.5 million for another 500,000 in replacement tests, which worked.
The Republican governor denied the allegations on the webpage and stated that the “initial tests were successfully validated and usable” but “a change in FDA emergency protocols” prompted LabGenomics to replace and upgrade the tests.
Nearly 395,000 of the tests have reportedly been used so far, and Mr. Hogan said “[w]e anticipate using every single one of them.”
The governor also rejected allegations that he was not transparent with legislators about the “trade-in and upgrade” of tests, and stated that the emergency procurements were approved unanimously by the Board of Public Works.
• Emily Zantow can be reached at ezantow@washingtontimes.com.
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