House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano requested extensive documents, including all records of communication between the Mar-a-Lago members and their companies with current or former senior VA officials. | AP Photo/Cliff Owen Congress Takano opens probe into Mar-a-Lago influence at VA

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano(D-Calif.) today opened an investigation into the outsized role of three members of President Donald Trump's Florida country club in a digital health record contract and other VA business.

In a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, Takano requested extensive documents including all records of communication between the Mar-a-Lago members and their companies with current or former senior VA officials.


POLITICO broke the news last April that Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter, physician Bruce Moskowitz and lawyer Marc Sherman were deeply involved in contract decisions that led to the $10 billion contract with Cerner Corp. to implement a new EHR for the VA. ProPublica has provided additional details, including evidence that Moskowitz tried to benefit his son's foundation through the VA.

Wilkie has testified that after one meeting with the three at Mar-a-Lago prior to his confirmation last July, he hasn't consulted with them.

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In an interview with POLITICO in November, Takano indicated he felt no need to probe the Mar-a-Lago connection.

"I don't see a need to beat a dead horse," he said.

Since then, however, new documents have shown the powerful influence of the Mar-a-Lago members, including an email from Wilkie last April —when he served as acting secretary — in which he is quoted as saying he was "honored" to meet them.

VA spokesperson Curt Cashour said the agency had been "transparent on its communications with these three individuals," had responded to multiple FOIA requests and even listed the documents here.

Most of the communications with the Mar-a-Lago group occurred during the tenure of Secretary David Shulkin, he noted, adding that Wilkie had been clear no one outside the VA would dictate his decisions.

VA officials told POLITICO that Moskowitz initially sought to block the contract because he disliked Cerner, which he used at a Florida hospital. Some senior IT officials at VA have said the interference of the three may have improved the Cerner contract.

