A Republican group aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is launching fresh attack ads against two vulnerable Democrats, using a discarded Democratic proposal to increase government oversight of financial transactions to highlight their ethics woes.
In fresh television spots shared first with the Washington Examiner, American Action Network, a political nonprofit organization, is going on television criticizing Reps. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey and Susie Lee of Nevada in a bid to boost GOP efforts to recapture the House majority in 2022 and make McCarthy the speaker.
Both Democrats represent swing districts that could fall to the Republicans in the midterm elections.
However, American Action Network, primarily an issue-advocacy organization, has been spending millions to defeat President Joe Biden’s “reconciliation” spending package, urging Democrats to vote against it, and these ads opposing the increased monitoring of financial transactions are the latest salvos in that effort.
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“It takes serious gall for Tom Malinowski and Susie Lee to demand working Americans turn over their financial records while hiding their own finances from public view,” American Action Network spokesman Calvin Moore said. “Just another example of Washington liberal elites living above the rules while shaking down the working class for every penny they have left.”
American Action Network is highlighting a Democratic proposal circulating on Capitol Hill that would increase Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of the public’s banking transactions and accusing Malinowski and Lee of engaging in a double standard — hiding their own financial transactions while insisting the public submits to even more scrutiny from the federal government. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a centrist Democrat, has effectively declared the proposal dead, but it’s still likely to appear in GOP-aligned campaign commercials.
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Malinowski and Lee have faced House Ethics Committee inquiries for failure to disclose financial transactions properly, including stock trades, as required under federal law.
Both have denied wrongdoing or an intent to deceive and said they were working to ensure they filed all disclosures and complied with the law. Malinowski told the New York Times that his failure to report was a result of “carelessness.”
