Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has come under scrutiny for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from his brother's personal injury law firm, Ross Feller Casey, LLP.
According to federal election filings, attorneys and staff at the Philadelphia-based firm have donated $222,566 to Casey's campaign since 2008, with the largest contribution of over $85,000 coming in April of this year. The firm's founding partners, including Casey's brother Matt Casey, have already reached the maximum donation limit for the senator's upcoming 2024 campaign.
In addition to the campaign donations, Casey has also tapped one of the partners at Ross Feller Casey, Robert Ross, to co-chair a panel responsible for nominating federal judges in Pennsylvania. This has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and favoritism in the judicial nomination process.
However, Casey's campaign spokeswoman defended the senator's actions, stating that every federal judge from Pennsylvania since Casey took office has been nominated through a bipartisan process in collaboration with former Republican Senator Pat Toomey.
Meanwhile, Casey's potential Republican challenger, David McCormick, has faced criticism for his own campaign finances. McCormick, a mega-millionaire, has been accused of being bankrolled by Wall Street friends, including direct donations of over $250,000 from employees of Goldman Sachs, where McCormick's wife, Dina Powell McCormick, worked for years. McCormick is expected to announce his candidacy for Casey's seat after losing the 2022 Republican primary race to celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz.
The issue of campaign donations from special interest groups and wealthy individuals has been a contentious one in recent years. Both Casey and Toomey, who retired earlier this year, have been involved in a bipartisan effort to vet federal judicial nominees for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania since 2011.
This arrangement allowed each senator to have a say in the nomination process under both the Obama and Trump administrations. According to a former GOP campaign operative, the collaboration between Casey and Toomey was successful in filling judicial vacancies, but there is a notable difference in the donations given by Ross Feller Casey compared to those given by Toomey's co-chair, John Soroko of Duane Morris LLP.
While attorneys and staff at Duane Morris donated $32,450 to Toomey during his time in the Senate, the contributions from Ross Feller Casey to Casey's campaign amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This has raised concerns about the close ties between Casey and his brother's law firm. However, the Casey campaign spokeswoman dismissed these concerns as a "desperate attack."
In addition to the campaign donations, there have been other instances of family involvement in Casey's political career. Matt Casey, the senator's brother, assisted him during his 2012 re-election campaign and served as a campaign adviser during Casey's unsuccessful 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Patrick Casey, another brother of the senator, recently registered as a lobbyist at Dentons Global Advisors Government Relations, with his issues of focus including U.S. policy on semiconductors.
Ethics rules prohibit senators' staff from having contact with family members who lobby, and Casey's office has confirmed that it adheres to these guidelines. Furthermore, the Casey campaign has paid over $500,000 to a printing company co-owned by the senator's sister, Margi McGrath, throughout his political career.
Bob Casey, the son of the late Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey Sr., has held various positions in state government before being elected to the U.S. Senate. The revelations about campaign donations from his brother's law firm and the involvement of other family members in his political career have raised questions about potential conflicts of interest and the influence of special interest groups. As Casey prepares for a competitive 2024 campaign, these issues are likely to be closely scrutinized.
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