Kentucky Senate candidate Matt Bevin praised federal bailouts as an investor before he was against them in politics, documents revealed on Tuesday indicate.
The revelation could cause problems for Bevin, who is attempting to challenge Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell from the right in the Kentucky Republican Senate primary this year.
Bevin – a businessman – often speaks out against so-called government bailouts and has specifically attacked McConnell for his vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
In 2008, Bevin — who was president of Veracity Funds — personally signed a report for investors that praised the federal bailouts as “positive developments,” according to a report in Politico, a Virginia-based website.
“Most of the positive developments have been government led, such as the effective nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the passage of the $700 billion TARP (don’t call it a bailout) and the Federal Reserve’s intention to invest in commercial paper,” Bevin wrote with Daniel Bandi, who was the chief investment officer and vice president of Veracity Funds. “These moves should help to stabilize asset prices and help to ease liquidity constraints in the financial system.”
A spokeswoman for Bevin did not return a request for comment from The Daily Caller. But in an interview with Glenn Beck on Tuesday, Bevin claimed he didn’t “actually write that letter” and agree with its contents, even though he signed his name to it.
“That letter? I did not write. I did not write any of the letters that were ever published as investment commentary,” Bevin said. “I was the president and chairman of the board and by SEC law, was required to sign prospectuses when they were sent out.”
These documents will likely escalate what has been a nasty primary fight. Since Bevin announced his candidacy in July, McConnell’s campaign has dubbed him “Bailout Bevin” for taking a government grant to rebuild his company’s factory after a devastating fire in 2012.