Philip Ellender, the president of Koch Companies Public Sector, responded forcefully this afternoon to the personal and false attack on Charles and David Koch by majority leader Sen. Harry Reid (D. Nev.).
"The Democrats in general and Senator Reid in particular have targeted Charles Koch and David Koch and tried to silence their disagreement on important public policy issues since 2010, using references to the IRS on occasion to do so," Ellender said in a statement.
This was Reid's third attack on the Koch brothers, the billionaire libertarian philanthropists, since Jan. 30 of this year. The Democratic majority leader, who recently attended a fundraiser hosted by environmentalist hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, said the Koch brothers want to "buy the country."
Ellender said Reid's latest outburst is "particularly troubling because he appears to reference a television advertisement produced by Americans for Prosperity in which a Michigan woman suffering from leukemia shared her experiences under Obamacare.
"While Charles Koch and David Koch were not responsible for the advertisement in question, we believe it is disgraceful that Senator Reid and his fellow Democrats are attacking a cancer victim as part of their campaign against Charles Koch and David Koch."
Full statement below.
Statement by Philip Ellender, Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC
"We are disappointed, but not surprised, that Senate Majority Leader Reid has once again falsely attacked Charles Koch and David Koch today on the Senate floor. The Democrats in general and Senator Reid in particular have targeted Charles Koch and David Koch and tried to silence their disagreement on important public policy issues since 2010, using references to the IRS on occasion to do so. Senator Reid’s attack today—his third against Koch since Jan. 30th—is particularly troubling because he appears to reference a television advertisement produced by Americans for Prosperity in which a Michigan woman suffering from leukemia shared her experiences under Obamacare. While Charles Koch and David Koch were not responsible for the advertisement in question, we believe it is disgraceful that Senator Reid and his fellow Democrats are attacking a cancer victim as part of their campaign against Charles Koch and David Koch."