More “do as we say…” Dems.
Last month, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) released a joint statement, blasting Koch Industries for continuing to do business in Russia; the senators called it shameful.
“Koch Industries is shamefully continuing to do business in Putin’s Russia and putting their profits ahead of defending democracy. The noxious stench of Trump still hangs over Koch Industries. As the democracies of the world make huge sacrifices to punish Russia for Putin’s illegal and vicious invasion of Ukraine, Koch Industries continues to profit off of Putin’s regime. It is time for Koch Industries to put the values of democracy ahead of its own profits. We are calling on Koch Industries to immediately suspend their operations in Russia,” they said.
Ukrainian President and soon-to-be HBO movie Volodymr Zelenskyy also implored the international community to abandon business dealings in Russia.
“We propose that the United States sanction all politicians in the Russian Federation who remain in their offices and do not cut ties with those who are responsible for the aggression against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “All American companies must leave their market immediately because it is flooded with our blood.”
Koch Industries did keep a subsidiary of Guardian Industries open in Russia. So that’s fair play. But while publicly shaming Koch, the senators ignored some Russia stench of their own.
According to the Daily Caller, “International Paper PAC, which still does business in Russia, donated $113,000 to congressional Democrats thus far in 2022 including $5,000 to Schumer and $5,000 to Wyden. They also donated $5,000 to New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and $10,000 to Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.”
Yikes. The senators got caught in a little pot-kettle action. Koch Industries released a statement.
“While Guardian’s business in Russia is a very small part of Koch, we will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them,” Koch Industries President Dave Robertson said in the statement regarding keeping their Guardian Industries subsidiary in Russia, according to Insider.
“Doing so would only put our employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good.”
Makes sense. Senators —what’s your excuse?