Small business owners have had a lot of trouble securing loans to help them weather the coronavirus crisis. Gordon Sondland's business didn't.
Sondland is the founder of Provenance Hotels, a chain of high-end joints that secured a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which will distribute more than $300 billion. But he's probably better known as the former U.S. ambassador to the European Union who played a major role in President Trump's impeachment — and who got his job after making a $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural committee.
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The funding for small business loans doled out under the federal COVID-19 relief package ran dry within days of its passage. It has since been revealed that huge national chains, including some with valuations over $100 million, managed to secure loans while far smaller businesses never made it through the long lines to apply.
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