Fix the Debt isn’t the only dubious group South Dakota Senate candidate Larry Kessler has associated with. While Fix the Debt is a bunch of deficit frauds, Kessler’s sat on the board of a company that was actually defrauding investors of millions:
Following his tenure in the Senate, former Republican Sen. Larry Pressler sat on the board of a brokerage firm, Sky Capital, that defrauded investors of $140 million over an eight-year period, according to federal prosecutors.
Pressler, who is running for Senate in South Dakota as an independent, was on the board of Sky Capital from 2004 until he resigned in 2006, according to court documents and numerous news reports. Pressler served as non-executive director of the board.
Sky Capital was founded by Ross Mandell, who served as chief executive and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2012 for conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. […]
“They had one of the most prestigious boards I had ever been associated with,” Pressler told BuzzFeed News. “I suppose it’s the kind of board a former senator should be more careful of joining.”
Kessler says now that “he regrets that he joined the board, saying he felt ‘used’ and ‘burned.’” I bet he regrets it, now that he’s in a tight Senate race. And yes, he should be more careful about joining boards. That includes Fix the Debt, which is nothing more than a front group for corporate tax breaks.
Please give $3 to elect a real South Dakotan—and a real progressive—to the Senate.
Voting by mail is convenient, easy, and defeats the best of the GOP’s voter suppression efforts. Sign up here to check eligibility and vote by mail, then get your friends, family, and coworkers to sign up as well.
Seems like Kessler either isn’t very selective in the boards he chooses to join, or he’s guided a lot more by self-interest than the public interest.
