5:30pm: TAKING BIPARTISANSHIP TO THE BANK: Sinema Chips In To Pay GOP Colleague's $490K Legal Fees For Pre-COVID Stock Selloff Investigation
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema sent $2,000 to the legal defense fund for one of her Republican colleagues earlier this year. Richard Burr was then part of the bipartisan group to push the hard infrastructure bill through the Senate.
The investigation into Burr's $2.3M of stock sales shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the economy was closed by the US Department of Justice in mid-January. However, he had incurred $490,000 in legal bills and set up the legal defense fund (permitted under Senate rules).
Forbes' Zach Everson first reported on the Sinema contribution, in addition to the other 36 current and former lawmakers who picked up more than half ($280,000) of the attorneys' tab.
The other Democrats who chipped in were Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Angus King (I-ME). (King caucuses with the Democrats and even matched his committee's contribution with $5,000 of his personal funds.)
Such across-the-aisle contributions are very rare. And indeed, the $2,000 contribution from Sinema's leadership PAC ("Getting Stuff Done PAC") is the only contribution the GSD-PAC has made to a Republican.
Sinema's leadership PAC currently has $335,000 in the bank, and her main campaign committee has $3.6M.
8/23, 11am: NEW: Sinema Digs In Hard On Fellow Dems' "Soft" Infrastructure Bill, Tries To De-Couple It From Her Bi-Partisan "Hard" Bill
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is digging in her heels on opposing the Democrats' two-track infrastructure plan.
After getting Senate approval for the bipartisan "hard" infrastructure bill that she helped negotiate, she is warning the House of Representatives that she is opposing the $3.5T "soft" infrastructure bill that President Biden and Democratic leadership saw as an inextricable companion measure.
Politico reported this morning on the warning shot from the 1st term Senator (who is not up for re-election until 2024):
The $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill “is a historic win for our nation’s everyday families and employers and, like every proposal, should be considered on its own merits,” said Sinema spokesperson John LaBombard. “Proceedings in the U.S. House will have no impact on Kyrsten’s views about what is best for our country - including the fact that she will not support a budget reconciliation bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”
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