President-elect Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to restore decency, honesty, and transparency to the executive branch — but if he truly wants to fulfill that vow, he ought to consider choosing a new nominee for labor secretary.
According to the Washington Examiner, Biden’s pick to head the Department of Labor, Democratic Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, has come under intense scrutiny for reportedly funneling more than $1 million in campaign funds to a consultancy business that employes his girlfriend, Lorrie Higgins.
Citing campaign filings, the Examiner said Walsh directed nearly $1.2 million to a company known as LB Strategies in an ethically questionable, but reportedly not illegal, arrangement that first came to light in early 2019.
A mutually beneficial arrangement
Fox News reported that Mayor Walsh, who was first elected to the role in 2014 and granted a second term by voters four years later, appeared to have established the arrangement some time ago. It has reportedly accounted for roughly half of LB Strategies’ political business since at least 2013.
Reports also noted that Walsh’s payments to the consulting firm had stepped up incrementally over the years; as of 2019, the campaign had been paying the firm $14,650 per month, according to Fox.
The last payment received, according to the filings, was on Dec. 2, 2020.
That money was apparently well-spent, as LB Strategies — which oversees the mayor’s campaign and assists with things like scheduling, office management, and fundraising — helped Walsh raise nearly $3 million for his 2018 re-election bid, Fox reported, and the mayor is said to currently have a campaign war chest of around $6 million.
Given that there are no term limits for the office of mayor in Boston, it is possible that those funds are earmarked for a 2022 re-election campaign; however, if confirmed to lead the Labor Department, he may opt to remain in Biden’s administration and leave the mayorship open for another candidate.
“It looks like nepotism”
As for Walsh’s allegedly nefarious campaign dealings, questions of the arrangement first arose following a March 2019 report published by The Boston Globe.
At the time, a University of Massachusetts–Boston professor named Maurice Cunningham — who, according to Fox, has “written extensively about campaign finance issues” — told the Globe of the situation: “It’s the kind of thing that voters are concerned about. It looks like nepotism in some form.”
Indeed, and it is the exact sort of “swampy” behavior that Biden often vowed to eschew if he were elected president.
But will the soon-to-be commander-in-chief reconsider his choice in light of the growing criticism? Only time will tell, but I certainly wouldn’t hold my breath.
20 Responses
Biden’s a real winner! He knows where the money is and how to screw the America people. We just pay his bills. What’s wrong with us to just lie down and accept this cheating bunch?
Sadly they are too crooked for us honest people…. I really do not want to sink to their level.
People have to take off their blinders.. The sooner the better.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
WE ALL better get use to the Biden WAY and just bow down to the powers in charge like M. Waters, AOC, Old ladies of P and F from California. GOD help us survive! GOD BLESS THE USA.
I would not bow down to a bunch of crooks, Biden Harris Polies and many more in congress. You will see the USA go down the drain with those crooks. All they want is more money from China.
That’s how Democrats view “government service” – serve themselves – their families and friends to the Treasury.
If people do not know that then they get what they vote for. Sorry for the rest of us. We need to work on getting Republican govenors elected.
Demoncraps are known for spending.Reason why they dislike President Trump.He refused to allow unnecessary spending.Republicans have to grow up and have a spine to fight back. They get used to the cushy job and lay low.But they best remember,we the Republicans will not forget.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Well Biden is head of the Biden crime family, in bed with our foreign enemies and owned by Communist China, so this doesn’t surprise me at all.
Everything Biden does is sick. S*** for brains and certainly no commonse.
Hell NO…
This kind of garbage is the stuff Biden has thrived in his entire career…
This clown will fit right in with Biden and the rest of his crooks …
Hunter will get his “Get Out of Jail Free Card” on the 20th.
Banana Republic USA .
Once a SEWER RAT, and THIEF SPONSOR, guess what they surround themselves
But be careful, there’s no HONOR AMONGST THIEVES!!!
Can anyone explain to me in ten words or less……How did Joe Biden and Kamala Harris get elected to hold two of the highest offices in America?
I can do it in two VOTER FRAUD
AND THE BIDEN CORRUPTION PICKS UP RIGHT WHERE HE LEFT OFF. GOD HELP US ALL!
My God is there even one honest Demonrat anymore. I really doubt it.
All but about 10 people in the government are corrupt.
It is no longer our government. It is the Disgusting NeverTrump Communist parties government. They will control us to death until we either take it back by force or die like Venesuelza
These imposters and thieves will never be My President