As of 2012, Sen. Kay Hagan (D., N.C.) was the ninth-wealthiest member of the Senate, with an estimated net worth of $24 million. Much of that is tied to her husband, Chip, who is a partner at a Greensboro law firm and holds investments in a number of businesses. One of those businesses is JDC Manufacturing, which he co-owns with his two brothers.
THE POLITICO reports that JDC Manufacturing received almost $400,000 in federal grants and tax credits for green energy projects as part of the 2009 stimulus package:
Financial disclosure statements show that the Hagans’ income from JDC Manufacturing increased from less than $201 in 2008 to nearly $134,000 in 2013. Company representatives said higher rental income account for the uptick, not the stimulus-funded projects that were completed during that span.
Asked to explain, Hagan did was she always does, and ran away. Her campaign later denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
Once she learned of her husband’s dealings, Hagan never involved herself in his efforts to obtain the stimulus grants, her campaign said. She consulted with veteran Democratic attorney Marc Elias over the matter, according to spokeswoman Sadie Weiner.
"Kay is not involved in her husband’s business and had no part in helping JDC apply for or receive these grants," Weiner said. "Her only involvement was when she made sure that a respected ethics attorney was consulted to ensure that it was appropriate, and the attorney found that it was."
Reporters are still waiting for Hagan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to explain why she appears to have skipped a key briefing by intelligence officials on the threat posed by the terrorist group ISIL in order to attend a fundraiser in New York City.
Hagan loves to paint herself as the victim in her race against Republican Thom Tillis, emailing on a daily basis about the Koch brothers and outside groups spending money in North Carolina. Meanwhile, liberal groups have spent around $15 million in the state on ads attacking Tillis.