Annapolis, MD—Desperate Andy Harris knows voters in the First Congressional District of Maryland want an independent voice like Jesse Colvin to represent them in Congress, which explains why last week he donated a 2008 contribution from Paul Manafort to an anti-abortion non-profit. There’s just one small problem: Harris is hosting a fundraiser with Manafort’s deputy on the Trump campaign and fellow swamp creature David Bossie for the Maryland Republican Party this week. Tomorrow evening, Harris and Bossie will host a boat cruise on the Chesapeake Bay for donors with tickets as high as $6,000.
“Andy Harris is desperately trying to cover his tracks after taking tainted Manafort money, but it still stinks,” said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews. “Andy Harris’s donation from Paul Manafort and his high-dollar fundraiser with David Bossie is more proof that he’s mired in the Trump swamp. Marylanders living in the First Congressional District deserve a representative like Jesse Colvin, who will put the district first and who will be an independent voice in Congress.”
On Friday, Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to several felonies as part of his cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Bossie, meanwhile, heads up Citizens United and was widely condemned after he used the phrase “cotton-picking mind” to insult the intelligence of an African American man on national television.
After eight years in office, Andy Harris’s contributions come from corporate PACs outside of the First Congressional District, including the pharmaceutical industry. The district suffers 50% higher opioid-related fatalities than the national average, yet Harris happily takes money from the companies he is supposed to be holding accountable. Meanwhile, Colvin is refusing to take money from corporate PACs.
Harris also voted for TrumpCare, which would have kicked thousands of Maryland families in the First Congressional District off their healthcare. The bill would have left more than 400,000 residents in Harris’ district without vital consumer protections like the prohibition on annual and lifetime limits and coverage for pre-existing conditions.