Michigan Senate OKs Financial Disclosure

The Michigan Senate passed financial disclosure bills voters approved in November 2022 through Proposal 1 to expose conflicts of interest but one lawmaker says the rules are all “smoke and mirrors.”

Senate Bills 613, 614, 615, and 616 aim to require lawmakers and candidates for public office to disclose assets and income above certain thresholds. The bills seek to require candidates and officeholders to disclose their spouse’s employment, including their status as a registered lobbyist.

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Report: Stacey Abrams’ Business Received Special Treatment, Government Program Protected Private Investment

An investigation by the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), supported by documents retrieved by FOIA requests, has found that then Georgia House member Stacey Abrams received special treatment related to a government loan program that benefited her private investment in a company she helped start.

On October 7, 2021, the financial technology company Now Corp. (previously NOWaccount) co-founded by Stacey Abrams in 2010, secured $29 million in financing and an equity investment from Brigade Capital Management LP and Virgo Investment Group.

This was a significant milestone given the fact in 2013 NOWaccount had approximately $100,000 in annual revenue.

Less than two months after this announcement, on December 1, 2021, Abrams announced she would run for Georgia governor, setting up a possible rematch with Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.

And in March 2022, Abrams filed a financial disclosure form which indicated her net worth was $3.17 million, a substantial increase from the net worth of $109,000 when she first ran for governor four years ago.

While most media reports attribute Abrams significant increases in net-worth to speeches and advances for book projects, her investment in Now Corp. has received little attention.  Abrams herself has previously claimed that she “walled myself off” from company operations. However, documents indicate she was an integral part of the plan to use the federal program to benefit NOW.

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Watchdogs Sound Alarm as Ilhan Omar Continues to Evade Financial Disclosure of Reportedly Lucrative Book Deal

Ilhan Omar

Multiple watchdog groups said Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar may have violated federal law for failing to mention any income received from her critically-acclaimed 2020 memoir in her latest financial disclosure report filed on Friday.

Omar reportedly signed a deal worth up to $250,000 for her memoir, “This Is What America Looks Like,” in January 2019, around the same time she was sworn into Congress. Omar’s communications director said the House Ethics committee approved the book deal, but the Democratic lawmaker’s financial disclosures covering the calendar years 2018 and 2019 contain no mention of the book or any advance income received upon signing a deal.

The book was published in May 2020 to rave reviews by the press and Omar’s Democratic colleagues. The Atlantic dubbed it one of the best political books of the year, and numerous high profile Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, praised on the book.

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Stacey Abrams Purchased Two Homes Valued at $1.4 Million After Reporting Massive Debts in 2018

Stacey Abrams

Former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams purchased two homes worth a combined $1.4 million following her failed 2018 bid to lead the state, public records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.

Abrams purchased the homes despite reporting in a financial disclosure in early 2018 during her gubernatorial campaign that she owed the IRS $54,000 in back taxes on top of $174,000 in credit card and student loan debt.

Abrams purchased a 3,300 square foot home in Stone Mountain, Georgia, for $370,000 in September 2019, according to Nexis real estate records. The home is now worth $425,000, according to Redfin.

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Nikki Fried Amends Financial Disclosure Ahead of Campaign Announcement

For the second time in less than two years Nikki Fried – the current Florida Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate – has amended her 2018 financial disclosure form filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics.

The latest amendment, filed on May 28, 2021, comes just days before she officially announced she would be running for governor.

The amendment relates to her gross income in part D of the form. Fried changed the amount of income she received from Igniting Florida to $351,480.

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Nikki Fried’s Ties to the Cannabis Industry

Commissioner Nikki Fried

  Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is a former marijuana lobbyist, has failed to address her financial ties to the marijuana industry as she advocates for legalization and uses her position to influence medical marijuana legislation. While legacy media looks the other way, other reporting has revealed connections that should raise questions by those interested in transparency and conflicts of interest. Fried Makes Decisions Related to Marijuana Industry Documents filed in 2020 shows that Fried had a financial interest in a marijuana company doing business in Florida in 2019, the same year she created the Cannabis Office and the Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. Also, documents filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics indicate that Fried’s 2019 financial interest in Harvest Health & Recreation, Inc was not revealed until months after she created the marijuana related government organizations. Financial Disclosure Reveals Ownership in Marijuana Company For the past two years, Agriculture Commissioner Fried has gone to extremes to hide her ownership in a publicly-traded marijuana company. But the revelation of her controversial involvement raises new questions about how she secretly acquired the nearly $200,000 ownership stake in Harvest Health and Recreation,…

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