A Democratic congressman’s wife owned stock in a major subsidiary of Koch Industries while he and a leading Democratic Super PAC supporting his reelection railed on Charles and David Koch, the company’s owners.
"The Koch brothers are trying to buy our elections," warned Rep. Brad Schneider (D., Ill.) in a February Facebook post.
He did not mention in the post that his wife owned a stake worth between $1,000 and $15,000 in Koch subsidiary Georgia Pacific.
In mid-April, Democratic Super PAC House Majority PAC reserved nearly $230,000 in airtime backing Schneider’s reelection. Like the congressman, the PAC frequently rails against "the Koch Brothers," and did so in press reports noting the ad buy.
Two weeks later, possibly realizing that the congressman was profiting from a company while maligning its owners, Schneider’s wife sold her stake in Georgia Pacific.