An interesting trend is emerging in American politics whereby Democrats are emerging as the party of financial corruption as Republicans find fundraising success sans corporate dollars. The tectonic political shift could prove significant in the long-run leading into the 2022 congressional midterm elections, and beyond.
Several frontline House Democrats find themselves embroiled in financial corruption scandals, with at least five—Reps. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY)—facing questions and criticisms over their personal finances and portfolios, which may cause them political blowback in the upcoming elections.
Gonzalez’s account with the Bank of China, now closed after it was reported first by Breitbart News, has hurt him politically in Texas. Local news outlets followed up on the original Breitbart News investigation that uncovered an account with the Chinese Communist Party-controlled bank the congressman revealed on personal financial disclosure forms for the calendar years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The account, valued at between $100,001 and $250,000, pulled in annually in interest between $2,501 and $5,000—a particularly lucrative arrangement.
While Gonzalez’s office denied any wrongdoing, after the reports his staff announced he closed the account. The fiasco has been the subject of vicious attack ads against Gonzalez in his district, a South Texas border district that in its more-than-a-century in existence has never gone Republican. In the last election, in 2020, GOP candidate Monica de la Cruz Hernandez nearly defeated Gonzalez, holding him to just 50.05 percent of the vote. She got just over 47 percent of the vote. Her surprisingly strong performance has Republicans excited about her decision to run again in 2022, hoping she can replicate that energy and perhaps defeat Gonzalez, flipping the 15th district in Texas for the first time ever—more than a century—into GOP hands. In a recent radio appearance on Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel, De la Cruz Hernandez hammered Gonzalez for the Bank of China account—and lit him up over President Joe Biden’s malfeasance with immigration policy. Biden’s immigration policy—a complete reversal from former President Donald Trump’s remain-in-Mexico plan and a return to the failures of catch-and-release—has slammed the 15th district in Texas where the now-famous Donna facility that is housing thousands more unaccompanied minor children (UACs) than it was built for.
