Multiple press reports highlight more suspicious “security” spending, donations from airline and investment industry, increased amounts on luxury trips
It seems that even a potential FEC investigation into campaign fraud and a round of lashing in the press did not convince Kyrsten Sinema to change her spending ways: after her Q2 FEC report was filed last week, report after report highlighted ongoing suspicious spending on “security” to Tulsi Gabbard’s sister, continued luxury spending, and ramped up donations from airlines and investment industries after carrying water for them in the senate.
No wonder, as Stephen Kettman noted in this piece in Washington Monthly, Sinema is ‘widely loathed by Arizona Democrats, from centrists to progressives, who nearly universally see her as selfish, untrustworthy, and motivated primarily by how she can best enrich herself.’
See some of the coverage below:
Arizona Republic: Luxury Trips, Fine Wines Are Now Part Of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s Image. Will Voters Care?
Ron Hansen // July 13, 2023
News accounts, social media and campaign finance reports have connected [Sinema] to a lavish lifestyle beyond the reach of most Arizonans and more in line with the titans in the financial industry she helps oversee.
[…] [A]ccounts in the New York Post of Sinema spending more than $100,000 in campaign funds on wine, hotels, and other luxury expenses since joining the Senate help reinforce an evolving image.
[…] “I was a big fan of hers. I was so proud of her when she got in (the Senate) and then all of a sudden she turned and I just couldn’t understand why. It’s like she’s a Republican,” Scott said. “I want people I can identify with. She’s a sellout.”
American Prospect: Investment Industry Donors Bankroll Sinema in Q2
David Moore // July 20, 2023
Sinema’s inclination toward wealthy investors as she defended the industry’s tax breaks—and her wave of donations from Republican-leaning billionaires while undermining parts of the Democrats’ legislative agenda—have been central in the upcoming Senate contest in Arizona. Recently, Gallego contrasted the 98% of his first quarter fundraising that came from donors who gave under $100 with the “rich guys on Wall Street” backing Sinema.
[…]Sinema’s PAC spent almost $900,000 so far in 2023, the vast majority of which went to two payees….The second was travel and security service TOA Group, formed by the sister of Sinema’s friend, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, with almost $268,000 paid to it by GSD. The security company has also received $233,000 from Sinema’s campaign this year.
[…]Employees of Delta and American Airlines each donated tens of thousands of dollars to Sinema in April and May. In mid-June, Sinema and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) proposed a controversial amendment that would loosen the pilot training requirements for commercial aircraft.
Business Insider: Kyrsten Sinema raked in more than $100,000 from the airline industry as she pushed to alter pilot training requirements
Bryan Metzger // July 18, 2023
[…] Political action committees and airline executives gave over $100,000 to Sinema’s campaign from April to June, according to recently-filed documents with the Federal Election Commission.
[…]And before this past quarter, airline PACs and executives had contributed $150,000 to Sinema’s campaign over the last two years, as reported by The Intercept in June — indicating a significant uptick in contributions from the industry as a potentially blistering re-election campaign looms ahead.
Daily Beast: Kyrsten Sinema Is Still Paying Tulsi Gabbard’s Sister a Fortune for Security
Sam Brodey // July 19, 2023
“Since [the initial Daily Beast] story, there’s been more spending and less transparency, and that is very concerning,” said Brendan Fischer of watchdog group Documented. “Over the last two reporting cycles, fully 20 percent of Sinema’s campaign spending has gone to a single firm run by a close associate. I’ve never seen anything like that. I would expect both Sinema’s donors and her constituents have a right to know how she is spending campaign funds.”
Alternet: ‘Red flags’: Kyrsten Sinema ramps up security spending with company owned by Tulsi Gabbard’s sister
Alex Henderson // July 19, 2023
[..] the Daily Beast’s Sam Brodey reported that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) had a costly security arrangement with a company called TOA Group LLC — whose owner is Vrindivan Gabbard Bellord, the sister of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii (who, like Sinema, is an ex-Democrat turned independent). Sinema, Brodey reported, was spending “more of her campaign funds on security than nearly every other member of Congress.”
In a follow-up article published on July 19, Brodey reports that the Sinema/TOA Group arrangement remains five months later and is still raising “red flags.”
Raw Story: Watchdogs shocked as Kyrsten Sinema continues paying fortune to company owned by Tulsi Gabbard’s sister
Sky Palma // July 19, 2023
Sinema’s campaign paid TOA Group a total of over $450,000to provide security, and over $310,000to cover Bellord’s travel or other expenses since 2021.
“Since [the initial Daily Beast] story, there’s been more spending and less transparency, and that is very concerning,” said Brendan Fischer, executive director of the watchdog group Documented. “Over the last two reporting cycles, fully 20 percent of Sinema’s campaign spending has gone to a single firm run by a close associate. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“I would expect both Sinema’s donors and her constituents have a right to know how she is spending campaign funds,” he continued.
Wonkette: Corporate PACs Still Giving Undeclared Senate Candidate Kyrsten Sinema Money For Wine Weekends, Luxury Hotels
Stephen Robinson // July 19, 2023
[…] I have heard from folks in the know that Sinema’s transferred money from her leadership PAC to her primary campaign committee, which is weird because she won’t technically run in a primary, seeing as how she renounced the Democratic Party. She moved over $1 million in the first quarter and $730,000 in the second. That has the benefit of padding her public numbers. It’s a neat trick: Her big-money donors are able to max out to two separate entities and she moves the cash around. However, the reality is that her actual pool of donors is shrinking even if her numbers seem to grow.
Politico: Sinema outraised by Gallego again, further clouding her future
Ally Mutnick // July 16, 2023
Sinema’s fundraising total dropped slightly from her first-quarter haul of $2.1 million. Less than $9,000 of her second-quarter number came from contributors who have donated less than $200 — a sign of continued meager grassroots enthusiasm. Gallego, in comparison, brought in $1.7 million from small-dollar contributions last quarter.
Washington Examiner: House Democrat headlines ‘Replace Sinema’ event as her fundraising numbers stall
Cami Mondeaux // July 20, 2023
The fundraiser comes after Gallego managed to outraise Sinema for his second consecutive quarter, raking in $3.1 million during the second quarter alone — besting Sinema’s $1.7 million. Still, Sinema benefits from a hefty war chest of $10.8 million, nearly triple of Gallego’s cash on hand.
Gallego launched his Senate bid in January, just one month after Sinema announced she would be leaving the Democratic Party. Since then, the fifth-term lawmaker has shown considerable momentum as he has dominated both polling and fundraising.
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