A House panel investigating the coronavirus crisis released documents Tuesday detailing how senior White House officials tried to warn then-President Donald Trump of the danger of Covid-19 last March and leaned on federal agencies to offer non-competitive contracts for protective equipment to favored companies.

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis asked HHS, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Archives to turn over more records on the prior administration’s procurement of protective gear as part of an ongoing investigation.

“We are concerned that the previous administration may not have conducted sufficient diligence prior to awarding multi-million-dollar contracts, and that White House officials may have placed inappropriate pressure on federal agencies to award contracts to particular companies,” Subcommittee chair Jim Clyburn and other panel Democrats wrote in letters obtained by POLITICO.

What the documents say: A memo the committee obtained that was sent by […]