Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate David McCormick led the world’s largest hedge fund, managing and advising a fund that held hundreds of millions of dollars in Russian debt, according to documents obtained by the Guardian.
From 2017 to 2021, Bridgewater Associates managed a fund that held up to $415 million in Russian government debt, according to a filing with the U.S. Department of Labor, known as a Form 5500. Since 2019, these types of investments have been subject to increasingly stringent US sanctions in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Although holding such assets is not illegal, the question of Mr. McCormick’s dealings with foreign investment and how it will affect his political career is a question that has been raised by incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. It is already coloring the current election campaign against.
McCormick resigned as Bridgewater’s CEO in 2022 to run for Congress, a month before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But the first sanctions were imposed three years earlier, and the company said McCormick “oversaw the company’s strategy, governance and operations” as co-CEO from 2017 to 2020 and then as sole CEO. He was responsible.
McCormick himself said of his time as Bridgewater’s president, “Whatever we did, I was responsible for.”
Sovereign bonds are issued by governments to finance operations, pay debts, and meet other spending needs. These are the main source of government funding.
From 2017 to 2021, the value of Russian government bonds managed by Bridgewater and listed on the Department of Labor’s 5500 Form fluctuated, with the value in 2017 being $415,207,202. In 2018, it was $234,982,243. In 2019, it was $36,557,325. In 2020, it was $80,553,252. In 2021, it will be $119,884,817.
Beginning under President Donald Trump’s administration and continuing under President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States has imposed significant sanctions on Russian financial assets and institutions. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), sanctions currently “restrict transactions with 80% of Russia’s banking sector assets.”
CRS further added: “The Biden administration has expanded sanctions on Russian government debt, including banning U.S. financial institutions from processing debt payments from the Russian government to foreign investors.As a result, Russia will default on its debt in June 2022. I fell.”
Bridgewater’s relationship with Russia has proven to be perpetually controversial. In 2017, founder Ray Dalio attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, along with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Executive Director Kirill Dmitriev, then First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, and others. attended. “It would be better if the sanctions were lifted,” Dalio said, referring to the U.S. response to Russian election interference in support of Trump in 2016.
In 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported that Dalio met with President Vladimir Putin “several times in person.” In 2022, the US imposed sanctions on Dmitriev and RDIF, which the US Treasury Department called “President Vladimir Putin’s slush fund…a symbol of Russia’s broader kleptocracy.”
In the United States, Mr. McCormick appears to be a good bet to win valuable seats in battleground states for Republicans seeking to retake the Senate. He is behind Casey in the polls, but the race is close. The two recently had an argument.
This will be McCormick’s second run for the Senate, having lost to TV doctor Mehmet Oz in the 2022 primary. Oz lost to Democrat John Fetterman, a controversial candidate who alienated some voters in Pennsylvania amid claims that he actually lived in New Jersey. This year, McCormick has been relentless in reporting on his finances and whether he really lives in Connecticut.
McCormick is a U.S. Military Academy graduate and Gulf War veteran who is married to Dina Powell, who served as vice presidential national security adviser in President Donald Trump’s administration. When it comes to foreign policy, he shows a hawkish side.
He accuses Joe Biden and Kamala Harris of showing “our enemy… a weakened America,” which he says was “first seen with the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan.” It then passed through Russia, which had the audacity to wage war against Ukraine. And recently in Israel, Hamas, with support from Iran, has launched attacks on Israeli citizens. ”
Asked for comment about Bridgewater’s management of Russian investments, McCormick spokeswoman Elizabeth Gregory said: 2005 and 2007) – Russia was in debt before the invasion of Ukraine, but nothing noteworthy here. ”
Nevertheless, the news about McCormick’s old company’s ties to significant Russian funds could raise troubling questions, as well as previous reports about Bridgewater’s ties to China and Saudi Arabia.
Casey recently told a crowd in Harrisburg. “While I was fighting for union rights and fighting for working families in Pennsylvania, (McCormick) was making a lot of money investing in China. He was just investing in Chinese companies. He also invested in the companies that built China’s military.
“For more than 20 years, we have called China a threat and an enemy,” McCormick said. As a member of the national security team (as the Vice President for National Security Advisor under President George W. Bush), I have been negotiating with China and what direction we should take our relationship with China. He was a person who had a vision for…
“As CEO of a major investment firm, we invested 3% of our portfolio in China. Most Americans have 30% of the products in their homes made in China. We have set out a vision of decoupling from China in order to avoid dependence on China in the areas of
He also testified before Congress about China, saying the United States should “make clear to the private sector what investments and financial relationships with China are and are not allowed.” Private sector leaders, who often lack a deep understanding of the national security threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and may be conflicted with short-term growth opportunities, cannot make these choices alone. You can’t, and you shouldn’t. ”
In the case of Saudi Arabia, in early 2020, amid international outrage over the killing of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi on the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, McCormick asked Bridgewater to move to Riyadh. He reportedly urged them to show loyalty.
Analysts expressed concern. Last year, Ben Freeman of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Politics told HuffPost: “The Saudi regime has repeatedly made clear that it is willing to use financial, economic and business incentives of all kinds to gain influence over American politics.”
“So whenever I hear about someone running, I think it’s essential to know if they have business interests in Saudi Arabia. Have Saudis ever invested in businesses here? ?What interactions have they had with Saudi lobbying and (public relations) firms? To make (voters) understand how potentially vulnerable this person is to Saudi influence. It will be.”
Congress is trying to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen. “If you’re a sitting senator and you have the opportunity to vote on a moratorium on arms sales, but you know that you have financial ties to Saudi Arabia, there’s a clear conflict of interest,” Freeman said. “I will.”
McCormick did not comment to HuffPost. But if elected to the Senate, he could become an influential voice on foreign policy. And earlier this year, after Congress approved aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia over President Trump’s objections, McCormick said he would not have supported the deal.
“David McCormick sold himself out to America’s adversaries at the expense of Pennsylvanians,” Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokeswoman Tanisha Cameron said at the time. “When the time came to stand up for our allies against Russia and China, McCormick has shown once again that he is acting only for himself and his interests.”
