Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is hiding something, somewhere.
In a video interview with the Washington Post, Hogan said that he had enlisted the National Guard and State Police to protect 500,000 COVID-19 tests he had procured from South Korea from potential seizure by the feds.
“The National Guard and the State Police are both guarding these tests at an undisclosed location,” Hogan said.
Hogan said the decision to hide the precious tests was motivated in part by reports that the federal government had been confiscating shipments sent to other states, like Massachusetts.
“There had been reports of, for example in Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker (R) told the story of his planeload coming in, getting confiscated by the federal government,” the Maryland governor said.
Hogan’s remarks come amid reports from around the country over the past month that federal authorities have seized personal protective equipment (PPE) as it enters the country. TPM profiled one case, in which the importer was able to convince the feds to not act on a Defense Production Act order the government had received in order to take possession of a shipment of masks.
Hogan has said that he managed to secure the 500,000 tests thanks to help from his wife, who is originally from South Korea and purportedly called the country’s ambassador to the U.S. for help.
The Maryland governor said that the state arranged for a Korean Air plane to land at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to prevent the shipment from having to cross state lines.
“We landed it there with a large contingent of Maryland National Guard and Maryland State Police,” Hogan said. “It was like Fort Knox to us.”
Hogan, a Republican governor in charge of an otherwise blue state, has found himself among the governors locked in public feuds with President Trump over the White House’s mismanagement of the pandemic.
“We guarded that cargo from whoever might interfere with us getting that to folks who need it,” Hogan said.
