Kelly Neumann, a Michigan trial attorney and prolific Democratic fundraiser, is under fire for a 2024 Veterans Day post celebrating her grandfather's service in Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht during the Holocaust.
The Facebook post from Nov. 11, 2024, which hasn't been deleted, must be seen to be believed. After wishing a happy Veterans Day to her friends and family members who served in the U.S. military, Neumann relayed the "interesting story" of her grandfather, Albert Neumann, who also served in combat "on the German side in WWI & WWII." The post included several photos of Neumann's beloved "Opa" posing in what appears to be a Nazi officer's uniform.
After concluding his service to the Third Reich, Neumann's grandfather "escaped to Brazil" before eventually making his way to Detroit. Neumann explained that the former Nazi soldier was one of her "best friends" and "one of the first people in my life that accepted me as gay when I was nervous and scared." His story, Neumann wrote, was a "true testament that people can change and love indeed can win."
It was a rather unusual sentiment to express on Veterans Day, given that the Nazi regime—in addition to slaughtering six million Jews in the Holocaust—was responsible for the deaths of nearly 150,000 American soldiers. Jewish Insider requested an explanation, but Neumann declined to comment—and so did the Democratic candidates she is advising this cycle.
Neumann is heavily involved in fundraising efforts on behalf of U.S. Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson. She co-chairs the finance committee on both campaigns and has hosted multiple fundraisers for the candidates. Neumann has raised money for (and personally donated to) the campaigns of Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D., Mich.), Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.), and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D., Mich.). She routinely posts photos of herself cavorting with prominent Democrats from Michigan and beyond.
In March 2025, Neumann hosted a fundraiser for Rep. Haley Stevens (D., Mich.), who is running against McMorrow in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. A spokesperson for Stevens's campaign told Jewish Insider that the candidate "rejects anti-Semitism in all forms" and would not have participated in the fundraiser had she been aware of Neumann's post "celebrating" her grandfather's service to the Nazi regime.
In 2023, Neumann traveled with Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel and their female spouses to Turks and Caicos, where they stayed in a Ritz-Carlton penthouse that costs almost $9,000 a night. The fundraiser's personal injury law firm, Neumann Law Group, footed the bill. The trip raised eyebrows at the time given Neumann's firm could potentially have business before the state government that Nessel would oversee. Nessel dismissed the conflict-of-interest concerns and suggested rather implausibly that she paid for the vacation herself. Days later, Neumann hosted a "special reception" with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) that raised more than $70,000 for Michigan Democrats.
Neumann graduated from New England Law Boston, which is tied for 166th out of 195 institutions in the U.S. News & World Report Best Law School Rankings. She founded Neumann Law Group in 2015, and continues to specialize in "slip and falls" and other personal injury cases. Earlier this week, Neumann announced on Facebook that she was eager to sue the federal government on behalf of clients injured by ICE agents across the country.
