ICYMI: Malinowski accepts donations from ‘Defund the Police’ groups after claiming to support police
Another day, another instance of Tom Malinowski proving his constituents can’t trust him about anything.
Malinowski waxed poetic last week about his support for law enforcement…
…But that was all empty rhetoric, as Breitbart reports that Malinowski has accepted tens of thousands of dollars and been endorsed by multiple groups that want to defund the police.
NRCC Comment: “Tom Malinowski should return all the money he’s received from groups that want to defund the police. Anything less proves his sudden epiphany about supporting law enforcement is nothing but partisan theater in a pathetic attempt to fool his constituents.” – NRCC Spokeswoman Samantha Bullock
In case you missed it…
Hypocrisy: Democrat Tom Malinowski Accepts Campaign Funds from Defund the Police Groups After Claiming to Support Police
By: Jacob Bliss
Breitbart
Jun 18, 2021
Scandal-ridden Democrat Rep. Tom Malinowski (NJ) has claimed that “police officers should be honored, supported, and funded … regardless of politics,” but the Democrat went behind the back of law enforcement to take tens-of-thousands of dollars from and has been endorsed by multiple groups that want to “defund the police.”
Recently, Malinowski tweeted that “enough with the hypocrisy,” saying, “our police officers should be honored, supported, and funded … regardless of politics.”
The congressman even said, “Whether they are protecting our Capitol from insurrection or our neighborhoods from crime – regardless of politics.”
Enough with the hypocrisy. Our police officers should be honored, supported, and funded, while being held to the highest standards of ethical conduct, whether they are protecting our Capitol from insurrection or our neighborhoods from crime — regardless of politics.
— Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) June 16, 2021
Over the years, Malinowski has taken tens-of-thousands of dollars from various groups that want to defund the police.
Since 2018, Malinowski has taken $11,500 from Planned Parenthood Action Fund, according to his filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Additionally, he was endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund on May 16, 2018. The action fund said, “Malinowski knows that unfettered access to preventive care and the full range of reproductive health care – including safe, legal abortion – is a fundamental right that makes our families healthier and communities stronger.” The congressman in return said he was “proud to have the support of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.”
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund, of which the congressman is “proud to have the support,” has supported defunding the police. In a blog post from the group, they said:
Planned Parenthood Action Fund — in solidarity with patients, staff, and supporters — stands with the Movement for Black Lives’ call to defund the police. Defunding the police means investing less in militarizing police forces and investing more in community-based solutions, education, and health care.
Part of the blog was even dedicated to: “Why Planned Parenthood Supports Defunding the Police.”
Additionally, since 2018, Malinowski has taken $10,000 from NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC, according to his filings with the FEC. NARAL Pro-Choice America also endorsed the congressman during the 2020 election. During his first term in Congress, he earned a 100 percent score from the Congressional Record on Choice group.
NARAL Pro-Choice America released a statement called “Racial Justice” in which they supported defending the police:
NARAL Pro-Choice America supports the demands of the Movement for Black Lives, including defunding the police and investing in black communities, which are a response to hundreds of years of systemic oppression and the failure of reforms to address urgent needs and injustices. Budgets reflect our priorities. As such, the call to defund the police is also a call for investment in black communities—in urgent needs that are currently underfunded, like access to healthcare, education, social services, and more. Through this investment, we can work to make sure every person, every parent, and every family is able to thrive. [Emphasis added.]
A further look into Malinowski’s FEC reports shows, since 2018, he has taken $2,700 from Indivisible Action. The group has openly supported defunding the police. In May of 2020, Indivisible Team retweeted another account and said, “Defund the police.”
Defund the police. https://t.co/TVPXWyU11R
— Indivisible Guide (@IndivisibleTeam) May 31, 2020
Since 2018, Malinowski has taken $2,862.32 from the Sierra Club, according to his FEC filings. The Sierra Club had also endorsed the congressman. In 2020, Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said Malinowski “has the principles to stand up for what is right.” Tittle added:
We support Congressman Malinowski because he has the principles to stand up for what is right. He has joined the fight against the PennEast pipeline that would destroy farmland, wetlands, critical streams and more in his district. He supports policies that not only preserve and protect the environment but promote racial, economic, social, and environmental justice.
In the middle of 2020, the Sierra Club came out supporting defunding the police, and they said the club is “committed to meeting this moment.” They wanted to make it clear that the club is adding their names to the movement “to support the Movement for Black Lives’s demands: Defund the police, invest in black communities, and get Donald Trump out of office. The board officially signed on to their platform late last week.” Additionally, adding “Like so much in this moment, these demands might seem unprecedented or radical.”
The website added, “Where did this push to defund the police come from? And why is the Sierra Club supporting it?”
It comes from recognizing that the problems with policing can’t be solved through piecemeal reforms or getting rid of “a few bad apples.” The whole barrel — the whole system — is rotten. We have to shift our priorities away from punishment and incarceration and toward investment in the things that actually keep communities safe, like high-quality education and housing, access to nature’s healing benefits, and mental health services. That shift in priorities will have to be accompanied by a shift in spending. Imagine a world where we always had enough money to maintain green space and public transit, because a third of our city’s budget no longer went straight into policing.
Malinowski, in 2018, was endorsed by MoveOn, a lar-left group known for public policy advocacy and its political action committee, where the group announced in a tweet they “voted overwhelmingly” to do so. On the group’s website, they call for having “no more GOP obstruction” in the “once-in-a-generation” opportunity they have to “reshape [the U.S.] economy” with the far-left ideas. The website also shows they are proud to have “fought hard to elect President Biden and put Democrats in control of the House and Senate.
MoveOn has been known for wanting to defund the police. In June of last year, they tweeted, “Defund the police. Invest in black communities. Tell Donald Trump to resign.”
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Defund the police. Invest in Black communities. Tell Donald Trump to resign.
Join the Weekend of Action: #SixNineteen in Washington, D.C., in your community, or in your home.#DefendBlackLives https://t.co/dGhEKn8EtC pic.twitter.com/ov09WcNuwx
— MoveOn (@MoveOn) June 16, 2020
Malinowski was endorsed by Indivisible, another far-left extreme group that was created in “response to Trump’s election” in 2016, which according to them, “know that Trump is a symptom of a sick democracy, not its cause.” The group, according to their website, was meant to “resist the Trump agenda,” though the president is not in the oval office. They endorsed the New Jersey Democrat on July 19, 2018, but Malinowski has since removed the endorsement from his website in the midst of the defund the police movement. Nevertheless, the congressman said he was “honored” to have the endorsement of Indivisible.
He also added that “Trump’s election has awakened a spirit of civic responsibility in our country,” like Indivisible Central New Jersey, about which he said, “I look forward to working with them to achieve better representation for our district.”
An article in 2020 in Save Jersey showed detailed reporting that Malinowski “scrubbed” his website of the Indivisible endorsement after being previously being “honored” for the far-left group’s endorsement, even calling the group “essential to a healthy democracy.”
The report added:
The page of Malinowski’s website containing his praise of Indivisible has been scrubbed…
It’s hard to say when the page came down. Was it scrubbed because Malinowski wants to distance himself from this?
I think it’s clear that NJ-07 voters deserve an answer before Election Day.
The congressman’s voting record does not show he supports the police, either. In June 2021, he voted against an amendment that would condemn communities that defund the police. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) introduced an amendment “that would strip federal highway safety dollars from communities that defunded the police.”
Roll Call reported:
The markup was briefly nearly derailed, for example, by a harsh debate over an amendment introduced by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, that would strip federal highway safety dollars from communities that defunded police. That debate devolved into a fight over the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol, with Democrats accusing Republicans who did not back the Jan. 6 investigatory commission of not supporting the police.
Malinowski voted against the amendment since he claimed that it defunds the police. He told Nehls, “I’m going to vote against your amendment. … Because your amendment defunds the police.”
On June 26, 2020, the congressman voted to allow the nation’s capital to defund the police, voting Nay on H.R. 51. The bill failed with Malinowski not voting for it. It failed 182 to 227.
Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA) introduced a motion to recommit that would “provide full funding for law enforcement.”
Keller on the House floor said:
So, my motion contains reasonable additions to H.R. 51 that will require the President to ensure certain amendments to the State constitution are incorporated before granting statehood. These provisions reflect the entirety of the Nation’s views, not just those of cities controlled by Democrats.
There is provision that prohibits the former capital from being a sanctuary city. These are provisions that prohibit taxpayer funds being used for political campaigns. These are provisions to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights. These are provisions that provide full funding for law enforcement, that prohibit the destruction of our national monuments, that prohibit the creation of so-called autonomous zones.
The bill failed with Malinowski not voting for it. It failed 182 to 227.
Breitbart News previously reported, Malinowski, who had also campaigned on “reforms to limit the role of money in politics,” failed to disclose dozens of personal stock trades publicly to possibly be a violation of the federal STOCK Act.
The report said:
Malinowski’s stock trades in 2020 included more than two dozen purchases and sales during the first several weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, cited in a five-page spreadsheet Malinowski’s office disclosed on Wednesday after a reporter asked about his stock activity.
The spreadsheet contains stock trade information that does not appear publicly on the House’s website, as required by law.
The spreadsheet notes that Malinowski made at least $671,000 and as much as $2.76 million worth of trades during 2020. Members of Congress must report the value of their stock assets only in broad ranges, which makes a precise total elusive.
Due to this, Malinowski was slapped with two ethics complaints with the Office of Congressional Ethics from the ethics watchdog groups, the Campaign Legal Center and Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT).
The Campaign Legal Center and FACT urged the congressional ethics agency to investigate the New Jersey Democrat over his failure to disclose a significant number of stocks.
The Campaign Legal Center wrote to the congressional ethics agency:
When members of Congress trade individual stocks and fail to disclose those trades, they break the law and diminish the public’s trust in government. Rep. Malinowski repeatedly failed to comply with this requirement for over two years. He describes this omission as an oversight even though he is an experienced investor and former political appointee who has been subject to the STOCK Act for over five years.
FACT executive director Kendra Arnold said the congressman’s conduct “is especially damaging to citizens’ confidence in elected officials.”
She added, “It appears Malinowski was secretly trading stocks related to a national crisis, which prevented the public from evaluating whether his transactions were based upon information he obtained from his official position.”
The federal STOCK Act requires any lawmaker to publicly reveal any of their personal stock sales and purchases within 30 to 45 days of the transaction. The reports show Malinowski may have violated the law for failing to report the stocks within the given time.