From the Democratic Party of Virginia:
ICYMI: DPVA and End Citizens United announce new developments in Bob Good’s ongoing financial disclosure scandal
Following news about Republican Congressional candidate Bob Good filing financial disclosures that reveal major conflicts of interest and a possible violation of the law from his time on the Campbell County Board of Supervisors, the Democratic Party of Virginia and End Citizens United held a press call to give an update on new developments in the ongoing scandal. Today Lawton Tufts, a Charlottesville public defender and member of the UVA faculty, sent a letter to Campbell County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul McAndrews requesting an independent investigation into this potential crime and a civil penalty against Good.
Patrick Burgwinkle, the Communications Director at End Citizens United and DPVA Chair Susan Swecker discussed the significance of Good’s conflicts of interest, including how votes he cast that favored companies he owned stock in hurt residents of Campbell County, and the need for an investigation into Good’s potential violation of the law.
You can view a recording of the call here. A copy of the letter to the Campbell County Commonwealth’s Attorney can be found here.
“Good’s new disclosure reveals that he holds up to $15,000 of stock in Abbott Laboratories – an opioid giant that he once voted to give a record-breaking corporate handout on the Campbell County Board. Weeks before voting to give those handouts to Abbott Labs, Good cast the deciding vote to cut almost the exact same amount from Campbell County Schools. Because of Good’s cuts, local schools lost out on over $300,000 state matching funds and teachers lost out on a 2% raise…We also have Bob Good voting to give McKesson a contract to bill and collect ambulance fees on Campbell County patients — handing over 4.25% of all Campbell County ambulance bills to McKesson…And after that, he voted to allow McKesson to seize property, confiscate tax refunds, and garnish wages from patients that owed debt to McKesson for the ambulance rides. This is questionable even if you set aside the conflicts of interest but once you learn after the fact that Bob Good was personally invested in the company it becomes a massive problem,” said Patrick Burgwinkle, Communications Director at End Citizens United.
“In interviews with the press after this scandal broke, Good failed to say that these stocks did not influence his votes…And he hasn’t expressed any regret for misleading the public by filing a false disclosure form. Bob Good may not have a response to recent news reports about his financial disclosures, but law enforcement officials should…Ethics laws need to be enforced, regardless of whether or not we’re in the middle of an election. That’s why we’re calling for the Campbell County Commonwealth’s Attorney to take swift action against Bob Good,” said DPVA Chairwoman Susan Swecker
“Mr. Good claims things like he supports public education, he supports law enforcement in some of his TV ads. That, quite frankly, cannot be further from the truth…Several times during his four years on the board [Mr. Good] would not do things like fund higher teacher salaries or even think about putting money back into schools and improve children’s education. Mr. Good, one year in fact, rejected money for teacher’s salaries that came from Richmond…Mr. Good can say things like he supports law enforcement, he supports public education, he supports funding things, but during his four years on the board he proved that through his demeanor, through his personality, through his character, and through his votes more importantly, that he is not worthy of sending to Washington, D.C.” said Michael Nagy, a Republican school teacher from Campbell County. A full video of his statement can be found here
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