In a series of comments to Fox News Digital following the recent revelations surrounding Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has apparently voted in favor of legislation granting millions upon millions of dollars in federal funds to a non-profit controlled by his wife, a slew of experts said that he had been caught in what appears to be a “dark money corruption” scandal.
As background, a non-partisan ethical watchdog group called the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) revealed in a recent press release and letter that Sen. Whitehouse has voted in favor of nineteen federal government grants worth approximately $14.2 million that went to a non-profit called Ocean Conservancy. That non-profit is controlled by his wife.
Summarizing the matter on social media was the Libs of TikTok X account, which said, “BOMBSHELL: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) backed legislation that funneled millions to his wife’s environmental nonprofit, Ocean Conservancy. She’s been paid nearly $2.7M while the group raked in $14.2M+ in federal grants—funded by bills Whitehouse voted for! Now, an ethics watchdog is calling for an investigation into this blatant corruption.”
In any case, the experts who commented on the matter to Fox News Digital said Sen. Whitehouse appears to have been caught up in some serious corruption by voting in favor of funding legislation for a non-profit controlled by his wife, who in turn raked in millions in compensation.
Amongst those who did so was Mike Davis, the former chief counsel for nominations to former Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Davis told Fox News Digital, “Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who has made his political career accusing others of dark money corruption, appears to be throwing stones in his glass house.”
Chiming in on much the same note was a former United States attorney and the current executive director of an organization called Right On Crime, Brett Tolman. Tolman told the outlet, “This is the height of hypocrisy.” He added, “Sen Whitehouse is a former U.S. attorney and the self-proclaimed watchdog of dark money.”
Tolman wasn’t done. Continuing, he sounded off on Swamp corruption, saying, “This is not just a careless ethical lapse in judgment. This is corruption, Washington, D.C., style. This is literally what many public officials have been prosecuted for by DOJ (Department of Justice). I’m aware of multiple cases DOJ is pursuing right now with less egregious facts.”
"*" indicates required fields
Also chiming in was Heritage Foundation legal expert Thomas Jipping, who told Fox News Digital that the Senate Ethics Committee should investigate the situation, saying, “Of course, that’s what they exist to do.” Jipping added that the FACT complaint about Whitehouse clearly alleges “specific facts that back up a claim that there’s an ethical violation.”
Jipping added that it is very ironic that Whitehouse, who is known for throwing similar allegations around, which he did recently about Elon Musk, is the one who is now seemingly quite in the wrong. He said, “The irony here absolutely takes my breath away. He now appears to be embroiled in such an obvious conflict of interest.”
Watch Fox’s Jesse Watters discuss part of this discovery below:
Featured image credit: By Preiss / MSC – https://securityconference.org/mediathek/asset/sheldon-whitehouse-0840-18-02-2018/, CC BY 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69438923