OSHKOSH – Recent media portrayals of Sen. Ron Johnson’s personal finances ignore the fact that he took the unusual step of selling all his marketable securities prior to taking office in 2011 to avoid any conflicts of interest. Additionally, Johnson has never conducted a stock transaction while a senator.

A blizzard of stories alleged that Johnson supported tax cuts to benefit himself and wealthy donors, even though the tax relief went to 95 percent of American businesses, with 20 million tax filers taking advantage of it. Those negative news stories were immediately weaponized in attack ads from Democrats who are opposing Johnson in the 2022 election.

In fact, Johnson has steadfastly avoided conflicts of interest by converting his assets to cash, Bloomberg reported in 2011:

“Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who founded specialty plastics company Pacur LLC and touted his business credentials on the 2010 campaign trail, sold all his stocks, bonds and mutual funds and put the money into cash accounts before taking the oath of office in January.”

“‘I decided to liquidate all my marketable securities to avoid even a hint of a conflict of interest,’ he said in an interview.”

[…]

“By keeping cash, Johnson could be losing money: The highest yield on a cash fund at Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), where Johnson’s largest account is held, was 0.05 percent, according to the company’s web site. The inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index was 3.6 percent for the 12 months ending in May, the Labor Department said yesterday.”

“‘To the extent that you’re not beating inflation, the purchasing power of that stack of money is going to decline,’ said Robert Kerr, a spokesman for the National Association of Enrolled Agents, a membership organization of tax professionals licensed by the Internal Revenue Service.”

“Democrats and the media know that Joe Biden’s policies are crushing Wisconsin workers and drowning them with rampant inflation, so they’re throwing everything they can at Ron Johnson, hoping something sticks. Sen. Johnson has gone above and beyond to be transparent, and by liquidating his assets, took extraordinary steps to avoid any possible conflicts of interest. This Democrat desperation proves that they can’t argue with Sen. Johnson on the merits of his record, so they resort to disinformation and personal smears to score political points.” – Dylan Lefler, Campaign Manager for Sen. Ron Johnson 

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