Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly has long decried the presence of corporate money in politics. Publicly, at least.
Behind the scenes, the astronaut-turned-politician has figured out a way to sidestep his ban on corporate PAC money.
Per the Washington Free Beacon:
Kelly, the husband of former Representative Gabby Giffords (D., Ariz.), pulled in a massive $11 million in contributions between January 1 and March 31. The first-quarter fundraising haul included nearly $75,000 in transfers from other PACs—$21,500 of which came from committees fueled by money from corporate PACs, including one associated with a company in which Kelly holds financial stakes.
Kelly has called corporate PAC money “one of the biggest problems in our politics today” and made rejecting it a cornerstone of his run to oust Republican incumbent senator Martha McSally. Despite the self-imposed ban, he has already received cash from corporate-tied PACs by using a workaround—taking the money through other Democratic leadership PACs. Kelly also earned $1.8 million from speaking gigs, including payments from large corporations.
Kelly’s latest filings show that his campaign received a $10,000 donation from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D., Ariz.) Getting Stuff Done PAC during the first quarter. Sinema’s leadership PAC is primarily funded by dozens of corporate PACs, including PACs associated with Goldman Sachs, Google, JP Morgan Chase, and Visa, its filings show.
Sinema’s PAC also received thousands from the Apollo Education Group, the owner of the University of Phoenix. In 2016, Apollo was sold to the Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Kelly received $50,000 in board compensation from Vistria last year and holds investments in the group valued between $65,000 and $165,000. Following Apollo’s fire sale, Vistria announced as many as 170 layoffs and closed schools, affecting thousands of students. The University of Phoenix also amassed over 1,000 fraud complaints since Vistria took over its ownership.
The RealClearPolitics polling averages in the McSally vs. Kelly Senate race show Kelly with a decisive eight-point lead.
another liberal peice of shit . trump2020-2024
Gifford sleazed us along for such a very long time so no surprise she’s married to someone just like herself – it’s going to be fun watching him get a surprise b/c this is pandemic time in the nation and nothing is the same including ‘loopholes’ that have been turning on their provokers like Pelosi and Trump ends up in-charge of the money.
Gun grabbing Democrats who lie, cheat and steal. There is no morality for them because they are their own “god”. Time will bring them before God. And Judgement will come