For more than a year Sean Casten’s campaign for Congress has centered on just two things, his attacks on Peter Roskam and Casten’s personal wealth, which he claims was derived from his success as a small business “entrepreneur.”
But while Casten has attempted to portray himself as a successful small businessman, he has refused to talk about the fact that he was sued by his own investors for manipulating his company’s books, committing breaches of fiduciary duty and paying his family members inflated salaries and bonuses.
The Roskam for Congress campaign today released an ad that takes square aim at Casten’s underhanded business dealings. A copy of the ad and the script is below.
“Sean Casten has held himself out as a successful businessman, but was sued by his own investors for illegal business activity, breach of fiduciary responsibility and for paying his relatives inflated incomes,” said Roskam for Congress Spokesman Veronica Vera. “Sean Casten’s attacks on Peter Roskam are designed to hide his checkered past, but voters deserve to know the truth about Sean Casten’s shady self-dealing.”
The Truth: He inherited millions and worked for his family’s business.
Casten was sued for mismanagement.
Accused of breaches of fiduciary duty.
And manipulating the company books.
Paying his family inflated bonuses and salaries.
While Casten propped up the business with unauthorized transfers.
Sean Casten’s just another shady Illinois politician who’d make things worse.
* Casten campaign response…
Today, Rep. Peter Roskam rolled out his first negative TV attack ad against Sean Casten, candidate for congress in Illinois’ Sixth District. The Casten campaign released the following statement:
“It’s pathetic and very telling that after 25 years on the public payroll, Roskam’s TV ad doesn’t even mention his own record but just throws mud at Sean,” said Greg Bales, Campaign Manager for Sean Casten. “The attacks come from a lawsuit filed during an attempted hostile takeover, which happens in business — something a career politician like Peter Roskam wouldn’t understand. Peter wants to muddy up Sean’s record as a successful green-energy entrepreneur because it contrasts so sharply with his own record of rubber-stamp partisanship — voting 94 percent of the time with President Trump.
Sean has been open and honest about his record, while Peter Roskam attempted to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics after they investigated his own.
“Peter Roskam knows that he can’t survive a campaign based on the truth about his own record, so he’s chosen to lie about Sean. The voters of the Sixth District, whom Roskam avoids at all costs, deserve far better from their Congressman than misleading negative ads. We’re confident they’ll choose ideas and independence over insults and partisanship on November 6th.”
Peter Roskam’s ad references a hostile takeover attempt of one of Sean’s businesses. The disputes were amicably resolved, allowing Sean to protect both his employees and investors.
Casten wrote about the hostile takeover attempt a few months back. Click here.
Today, the Rauner Campaign is launching a new statewide TV ad titled “Tax Hiker.”
The ad tells the story of Mike Madigan’s 32% income tax hike last year, and how his handpicked candidate for governor, JB Pritzker, is calling for yet another tax hike on every single Illinoisan. The ad then cites a Chicago Tribune editorial that says Pritzker’s plan would “punish” taxpayers, the same plan that Pritzker calls the “theme” of his campaign.
The Pritzker-Madigan agenda is clear: higher taxes, more corruption.
Mike Madigan just raised your taxes thirty-two percent over Bruce Rauner’s veto. Now JB Pritzker wants to raise your taxes again. Pritzker and Madigan want to raise taxes on every middle class Illinoisan. And increase tax rates… another twenty…six… percent. The Chicago Tribune says Pritzker’s plan will punish Illinoisans. But JB Prtizker calls it the central theme of his campaign.
JB Pritzker and Mike Madigan. Higher taxes. More corruption.
