Dr. Rick Bright, an immunology expert and the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), states that he was pressured to extend a government contract to Aeolus Pharmaceuticals and then later to to transfer $40 million from BARDA to the Strategic National Stockpile in 2018 to purchase a drug made by manufacturer Alvogen. Both of these companies were clients of the lobbyist John Clerici, and Aeolus’s CEO was a friend of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor.