Out-of-Stater Navigator: Sheehy Refuses to Divest from Bridger Aerospace, Creates Conflicts of Interest

Tim Sheehy’s plot to enrich himself if he gets elected to the U.S. Senate was on full display this week. Across the state, Montanans watching NBC Montanalearned how Sheehy’s refusal to divest would create massive conflicts of interest if he were elected to office.

More news broke that Sheehy “conducted business” with a Chinese drone company that has been sanctioned by two administrations for data sharing and that Sheehy compared himself to a falsely accused rapist at a campaign event.

NBC MONTANA: SHEEHY’S REFUSAL TO DIVEST CREATES CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Following Sheehy’s abrupt resignation as CEO of his company, Bridger Aerospace, new reporting from NBC Montana dove into how Sheehy’s refusal to divest creates a conflict of interest. If elected, Sheehy would be in a position to financially benefit himself. 

Stephen Nelson, associate professor of political science at Northwestern University, affirmed that “the strongest thing [Sheehy] could do is to divest,” in the interview. 

As of the latest SEC filings, Sheehy owns 10.4 million shares in Bridger Aerospace, worth roughly $32 million. Since Sheehy will not divest his financial stake in the company, which is funded by government contracts, he would be taking votes with clear knowledge of if they would financially benefit his portfolio.

SHEEHY “CONDUCTED BUSINESS” WITH CHINESE DRONE COMPANY THAT SHARED DATA WITH CCP

Breaking reporting revealed that Sheehy “conducted business” with DJI, a Chinese drone company that admitted to sharing data with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), undercutting Sheehy’s “tough on China” claims.

Sheehy “personally petitioned” the FAA for permission to DJI drones. Shortly after getting his exemption accepted, “DJI admitted to complying with the Chinese government’s request to hand over data collected by its drones.” 

Despite the concerns about the company’s data sharing, “Sheehy continued to pursue DJI drones and highlighted the use of ‘a world class surveillance drone’ on Bridger Aerospace’s website as recently as 2017.”

SHEEHY COMPARES HIMSELF TO A FALSELY ACCUSED RAPIST

Disturbing new reporting from Jezebel revealed that Sheehy compared himself to a falsely accused rapist. 

At a campaign event this week, Sheehy compared the negative campaign messaging he is facing to being accused of being a rapist, saying: “If you’re not a rapist, how do you prove you’re not a rapist? Like, I-I-I can’t prove a negative, it’s impossible.” 

NEW OP-ED CALLS OUT SHEEHY FOR GETTING HIS MANSION PROPERTY TAXES LOWERED

In a new op-ed, Eric Matthews, State Representative for House District 66 in Bozeman, outlined how multimillionaire Sheehy was able to cut his property taxes by tens of thousands of dollars, while most Montanans’ property taxes skyrocketed. 

From using a company associate to lower his property taxes to charging $12,500 to hunt on his land, Sheehy has made it clear that he doesn’t understand the first thing about the issues that are important to hard-working Montanans. 

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