Washington, D.C. — The culture of corruption in Senate Majority Mitch McConnell’s Senate is as strong as ever, with reports coming out about a key Republican Senate consultant, Mike Gula, working to personally profit from the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Politico, Gula, a fundraising consultant for top Republican Senators, is stepping away from politics to start a business where he is leveraging his political relationships to sell “coronavirus testing kits, N95 respirator masks,” “a wide selection” of personal protective equipment, and other “hard to find medical supplies to beat the outbreak.”
You read that right: a top Republican fundraiser for Martha McSally and other prominent Senators is now leveraging personal connections to profit off of the coronavirus epidemic.
In an environment where medical professionals are in dire need of this personal protective equipment, Gula, when asked how he had procured this equipment, responded, “I have relationships with a lot of people.”
"Gula is a veteran fundraiser who’s raised money for more than two dozen lawmakers in this cycle alone, including Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Martha McSally of Arizona and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota,” Politico reports.
Mitch McConnell and his Republican Senators need to immediately commit to rejecting outreach from corporate lobbyists angling for profits in the coronavirus pandemic — especially their own top fundraisers.
This comes on the heels of two Senators, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Richard Burr of North Carolina, being caught profiting off of the pandemic by selling off stocks while telling the public that coronavirus was not a threat to the economy. It also follows McConnell pushing for a half-trillion dollar slush fund for corporations to be included in the latest bailout bill.
"McConnell’s culture of corruption has permeated every corner of the Senate, creating a body in which Members and top consultants are more interested in personally profiting or benefiting their campaigns than helping Americans survive,” said Josuha Karp of Fix Our Senate. “McConnell needs to make it clear — immediately — to his caucus with his actions and his words that the American people come first, not special interest groups or well-connected lobbyists.”
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