Posted October 22, 2022
In case you missed it, conservative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger penned an op-ed in The Denver Gazette further exposing Michael Bennet's hypocrisy when it comes to how lawmakers manage their investments. Michael Bennet's shady investment history was first reported in The Daily Beast.Read the full op-ed here. See the highlights below:
On Bennet's Blind Trust HypocrisyBennet is one of 15 cosponsors of the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act. Sponsored by Sens. John Ossoff, D-Ga., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., the bill would ban members of Congress and their families from buying and selling stocks while in office. It would require them to hold their stock portfolios in a “qualified blind trust....While claiming to support a ban on congressional stock trades, Michael Bennet hasn’t led. He’s followed. According to Business Insider, Ossoff and Kelly are among just six U.S. senators who have their assets in a qualified blind trust. This means they generally can’t see which investments are made and when they are bought and sold.On Bennet's Oversight of His Wealth“Bennet says his money sits in a trust operated by an independent manager, and he has no direction over his trades,” The Daily Beast reported last week. Yet just because assets are put into a trust and overseen by an asset manager doesn’t mean the owner has no say in what happens. Bennet simply expects us to take his word.
According to Forbes, “the contents of the trust are not a secret to Bennet — or anyone else — since he discloses them on his federal filings.” Bennet knows where his money is invested and when.
For someone who says he’s “working to stop … personal stock trades” in Congress, why hasn’t Bennet taken personal initiative?Why must it take a new law for Michael Bennet to do what he claims is the right thing for everyone in Congress?On Bennet's Big ShortAs a senator, “Bennet appears to have profited” from Puerto Rico’s financial collapse, the Beast reported last week. It’s a story revealed in Bennet’s financial disclosures, along with reports from NPR and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Call it Bennet’s Big Short: In 2014, the Puerto Rican government put up the largest municipal junk bond sale in U.S. history. Bennet invested in a hedge fund (Canyon Capital Balanced Fund LP) whose “feeder fund” purchased some $28 million in Puerto Rican junk bonds three months before Bennet’s investment....If this again makes you think of the 2008 financial crisis, it should. Colorado’s senior senator personally made bank from a hedge fund that got rich betting that Puerto Rico would go bankrupt.
With the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, Bennet is late to the party — cosponsoring a stock trading ban and blind trust requirement after making millions doing the very things he criticizes.On Bennet Speaking Out of Both Sides of His MouthIt’s one thing to say you support a bill to restrict congressional stock trading. It’s another thing to lead on it — and set an example of “do as I do, not just as I say.”What They're SayingHugh Hewitt, @hughhewitt: "'Andrew Morriss, international finance expert and professor of law at Texas A&M University, told The Daily Beast it appeared that Bennet profited from Puerto Rico’s collapse.' @ODeaForColorado gets an assist from @thedailybeast"Byron York, @ByronYork: "Among other things, the senator made millions betting that Puerto Rico would go bankrupt."Ashley Moir, @ashleymoirDC: "This @thedailybeast piece on @SenatorBennet’s finances seems pretty significant..."Matt Connelly, @MattConnelly: "The hedge funds that own much of corporate America love themselves some Michael Bennet. In the 2022 cycle, he has accepted $409,027 from private equity & investment firms, the 2nd highest Senate candidate and 3rd highest of ALL Congressional candidates."In Case You Missed It: The Daily Beast: “Sounds like they were anticipating the bonds would drop, and had a strategy to capitalize when the price fell, and made quite a bit of money off of that,” Morriss said of the hedge fund involved. “They made the correct bet on the Puerto Rican bonds, which is a bet against Puerto Rico. They accumulated stuff and waited for something bad to happen. And when it did, the fund made a whole bunch of money.”Morriss added this strategy was a standard thing in financial markets, “but it certainly doesn’t look good if you’re a man of the people to be involved in these kinds of strategies.”Learn more about Joe O’Dea’s campaign here.
Original source can be found here.
