Daines Paid Nearly $50,000 to Campaign Consultant Who Started Company to “Capitalize on the Coronavirus Response”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 16, 2020
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press@montanademocrats.org
Daines Paid Nearly $50,000 to Campaign Consultant Who Started Company to “Capitalize on the Coronavirus Response”
Daines Refuses to Answer Questions About His Affiliation with Campaign Fundraiser Who Used His “Relationships” to Obtain Enough Highly Sought After PPE to Launch New Business
Helena, MT – New campaign spending reports reveal that Senator Steve Daines paid nearly $50,000 to a top campaign consultant’s firm as he started a medical supply company to “capitalize on the coronavirus response” – using “relationships” to obtain equipment like testing materials and PPE that are in short supply in Montana and across the country.
The latest payment brings Daines’ and his affiliated political committees’ investment in GOP fundraiser Mike Gula’s firm up to nearly $500,000 since 2018. Daines has refused to answer questions about the nature of his affiliation with Gula, or what “relationships” Gula leveraged to get these supplies. The Wall Street Journal reports Daines was “paying Gula to set up several fundraising events” including two DC fundraisers and retreats in Napa, California, and Helena scheduled for this summer.
“Senator Daines’ campaign finance report tells us what he wouldn’t — he sent nearly $50,000 to his fundraising consultant who has been amassing critically needed PPE and testing equipment for his pandemic profiteering business,” said MDP Executive Director Sandi Luckey. “Montanans still need answers — is Daines continuing to pay Gula for upcoming events? Is Daines one of the ‘relationships’ Gula leveraged to acquire medical supplies? And why is it that while Montana’s health care workers on the frontlines are in desperate need of equipment like this, Daines continues to associate with someone so brazenly looking to capitalize on the response? Montanans have a right to know.”
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