EXCELSIOR, MN – Dean Phillips today released the following statement in response to false claims from Erik Paulsen’s campaign that Philips is directly invested in two companies, GEO Group and CoreCivic, who own and operate detention facilities along the border:
“Yesterday, Rep Erik Paulsen advised me and the general public that some of the mutual funds in which my investment advisor placed my savings had bought stock in companies whose practices are not aligned with my values.
While my opposition to the separation and indefinite detainment of families at the border is already clear, I have nonetheless asked my financial advisor to divest of any mutual fund that owns stock in companies that operate prison and/or detention facilities.
I will be donating $5,400 to organizations helping children and the parents from whom they’ve been separated with legal and logistical assistance. I am doing so because Erik Paulsen took $5,400 from the Great America Committee, Cory Lewandowski’s PAC, which has received contributions dir
I also would like to again invite Congressman Paulsen to sign The Minnesota Way pledge, which I signed 10 weeks ago, and which would ensure no PAC money and no self-financing in this campaign. If he will not sign it, I believe his constituents deserve to know why.
In the meantime, if anyone needs help determining if the mutual funds you own contain investments in businesses that don’t align with your values, I’m sure Rep. Paulsen’s office can provide the same assistance to you as he did for me.”
For those constituents seeking more information about their mutual fund holdings, Congressman Paulsen can be reached at (952) 405-8510.