[130] After criticism from national Republican politicians and conservative media outlets, Blumenthal said that he is "a strong supporter and believer in American capitalism" and would not have attended had he known of the group's Communist ties.[131]. Blumenthal argued that the Interior Department's decision in support of this action was "fatally, legally flawed, and unfair" and that "it would unfairly remove land from the tax rolls of the surrounding towns and bar local control over how the land is used, while imposing [a] tremendous burden. The resolution recognizes local news as a public good that serves an essential function in the democracy of the United States. [81] At Blumenthal's urging, MySpace installed a link to free blocking software ("K9 Web Protection"), but in May 2006, Blumenthal announced that the site had failed to make the program easy to find and that it was not clearly labeled. From 1977 to 1981, he was United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. "[151], On March 3, 2020, Blumenthal cosponsored a bill to make it difficult for people and organizations to use encryption under the EARN-IT Act of 2020. But. She is the daughter of New York real estate tycoon, Peter Malkin. United States Fidelity & Guaranty, the insurer behind the performance bond for the I-84 construction, agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle the claims. He was elected Attorney General of Connecticut in 1990 and served for 20 years. They got engaged when she was senior at Harvard and were married a year later. Exceptions to the bill's background check requirement included transfers between members of law enforcement, loaning firearms for either hunting or sporting events on a temporary basis, providing firearms as gifts to members of one's immediate family, firearms being transferred as part of an inheritance, or giving a firearm to another person temporarily for immediate self-defense. Also, she most likely has family trusts to her name. Attorney General Applauds EPA Finding That Greenhouse Gas Pollution Threatens Human Health, Environment. Associated Press called the race as soon as polls closed. [94] Blumenthal called the decision a victory against sexual exploitation of women and children, and against human trafficking connected to prostitution. In addition, she is married to Blum Capital president and chairman Richard Blum. Filmography. 0:27. [6] He was Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011. [25] He later apologized to voters for remarks about his military service which he said had not been "clear or precise".[26]. Blumenthal commented in defense of U.S. In October 2008, Bank of America initially agreed to settle the states' suits for $8.4 billion, and in February 2010, Countrywide mailed payments of $3,452.54 to 370 Connecticut residents. In an opinion piece, he and Ro Khanna proposed to promptly pause the massive transfer of American warfare technology to Saudi Arabia and take a tougher stance against the kingdom. Blumenthal was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jane (ne Rosenstock) and Martin Blumenthal. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for MoveOn.org, Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images. [23] During his 2010 Senate campaign, news report videos that showed Blumenthal claiming he had served in Vietnam created a controversy. Here are the richest members currently serving in the House and Senate, based on their reported net worth. He graduated from Harvard College, where he was editor-in-chief of The Harvard Crimson. [201], In February 2022, on a Nightline program on criticisms of the United States Center for SafeSport titled "Sports misconduct watchdog faces crisis of confidence", Blumenthal said: "There is simply no way that SafeSport can be given a passing grade", that "these young athletes deserve better protection", and that SafeSport does not have his confidence and trust. Senator Blumenthal served an unprecedented five terms, from 1991 to 2011, as Connecticuts Attorney General, fighting for people against large and powerful special interests. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth is only 34 years old, but the Indiana Republican has a sizable fortune from his father, the founder of Hollingsworth Capital Partners, which renovates factories. [180], In February 2019, Blumenthal and 22 other Democratic senators introduced the State Public Option Act, a bill that would authorize states to form a Medicaid buy-in program for all residents and thereby grant all denizens of the state the ability to buy into a state-driven Medicaid health insurance plan if they wished. "[138], In June 2019, Blumenthal was one of six Democrats led by Amy Klobuchar to sign letters to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice recounting that many of them had "called on both the FTC and the Justice Department to investigate potential anticompetitive activity in these markets, particularly following the significant enforcement actions taken by foreign competition enforcers against these same companies" and requesting that both agencies confirm whether they had opened antitrust investigations into each of the companies and that both agencies pledge to publicly release any such investigations' findings. He did so after representing Joseph Green Brown, a Florida death row inmate who was found to have been wrongly convicted. "[200], In June 2019, Blumenthal was one of ten senators to cosponsor the Safe Freight Act, a bill that would mandate all freight trains have one or more certified conductors and one certified engineer on board who can collaborate on how to protect both the train and people living near the tracks. President Donald Trump attacked Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., for misleading voters, making some false claims of his own in the process. He also served as the US ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein under former President Barack Obama. Her father is real estate mogul Peter Malkin. The bill was offered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2019 and was in direct contrast to the Trump administration's announced intent to ease sanctions on ZTE. Richard Blumenthal has been earning income from various corporate securities. The bill also directed Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program's Payment and Access Commission to report its data regarding doula care coverage under state Medicaid programs and develop strategies aimed at improving access to doula care. He announced plans to return to Connecticut every weekend to join a "listening tour" of his home state. [162], In March 2017, Blumenthal co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.270), which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment,[163] for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government. Baldino further called Blumenthal "good-natured" and "one of the best Marines with whom I ever worked". Blumenthal acquired his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where he was classmates with former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. Malkin is the daughter of real estate mogul. Blumenthal (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Connecticut. [6] "Blumenthal disclosed that he and his wife sold between $1,265,000 and $2,550,000 worth of shares of Robinhood in the last quarter . Blumenthal additionally introduced separate legislation with Representative Conor Lamb aimed to prohibit Amtrak from enforcing such clauses in its customer agreements. [105], After Chris Dodd announced on January 6, 2010, that he would retire from the Senate at the end of his term, Blumenthal told the Associated Press that he would run in the election for Dodd's seat in November 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he is one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, [5] with a net worth over $100 million. The bill would also codify Trump's executive order from the previous May that empowered his administration to block foreign tech companies deemed a national security threat from conducting business in the United States. [147], In March 2017, Blumenthal was one of 21 senators to sign a letter led by Ed Markey to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that noted that 12% of adult Medicaid beneficiaries had some form or a substance abuse disorder and that one third of treatment administered for opioid and other substance use disorders in the U.S. was financed through Medicaid and opined that the American Health Care Act could "very literally translate into a death spiral for those with opioid use disorders" due to inadequate coverage for substance abuse treatment. It is the beginning of another chapter. Blumenthal served one term in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987; in 1986 he was elected to the Connecticut Senate and began service in 1987. [124], In March 2012, Blumenthal and New York Senator Chuck Schumer gained national attention after they called upon Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to investigate practices by employers to require Facebook passwords for employee applicants and workers. [166][167], In March 2019, Blumenthal and 38 other senators signed a letter to the Appropriations Committee opining that contractor workers and by extension their families "should not be penalized for a government shutdown that they did nothing to cause" while noting that there were bills in both chambers of Congress that would provide back pay to compensate contractor employees for lost wages, urging the Appropriations Committee "to include back pay for contractor employees in a supplemental appropriations bill for FY2019 or as part of the regular appropriations process for FY2020."[168]. [41], On May 10, 2002, Blumenthal and Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier helped to stop the hostile takeover of New Britain-based Stanley Works, a major Connecticut employer, by filing a lawsuit alleging that the move to reincorporate in Bermuda based on a shareholder's vote of May 9[44] was "rife with voting irregularities." The Blumenthals have an investment of between $100,000 and $250,000 in U.S. Shanghai LLC, according to the senator's annual financial disclosures. Before he was re-elected in the senate in 2016, Blumenthal was the second richest member of Congress. His aggressive law enforcement for consumer protection, environmental stewardship, labor rights, and personal privacy helped to reshape the role of state attorneys general nationwide, and resulted in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars for Connecticut taxpayers and consumers each year. August Wolf, a bond salesman and former Olympian, was the only declared Republican candidate running against Blumenthal in the 2016 Senate election. Democratic Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal lied about serving in Vietnam. states. Some say it could be much higher. Manchin is "in danger" politically, his Democratic colleague Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told CNN. He supports federal funding for family planning clinics. He fought and sued the federal government for failing to follow or enforce environmental laws and energy statues, as well as imposing multimillion dollar unfunded mandates on local taxpayers under the No Child Left Behind Act. Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the House Committee on Ways and Means (June 25, 2002). In 2010, Senator Blumenthal was elected to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Sunday evening that surgery to repair a fracture in his femur was "completely successful" and that he's planning to return to the . The bill also gave the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) the role of evaluating and providing guidance toward digital equity projects. They have four children. "[187], In April 2019, Blumenthal was one of six Democratic senators to sign a letter to Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan expressing concern over memos by Marine Corps General Robert Neller in which Neller critiqued deployments to the southern border and funding transfers under Trump's national emergency declaration as having posed an "unacceptable risk to Marine Corps combat readiness and solvency" and noted that other military officials had recently stated that troop deployment did not affect readiness. Blumenthal joined 14 of his Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution designating April 2023 as "Preserving and Protecting Local News Month.". [20][111] Video emerged of him speaking to a group of veterans and supporters in March 2008 in Norwalk, saying, in reference to supporting troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam. It will increase the power and profits of transmission operators with an immediate $40million price tag for consumers. [183], In August 2019, Blumenthal was one of 19 senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar requesting data from the Trump administration in order to help states and Congress understand the potential consequences in the event that the Texas v. United States Affordable Care Act (ACA) lawsuit prevailed in courts, claiming that an overhaul of the present health care system would form "an enormous hole in the pocketbooks of the people we serve as well as wreck state budgets". The senators requested Shanahan explain the inconsistencies and that he provide both "a staff-level briefing on this matter within seven days" and an explanation of how he would address Neller's concerns. FACT CHECK: Dave Ramsey Made a Statement About America Online, FACT CHECK: CIA Director Gina Haspel Found Dead, FACT CHECK: Kwik Trip Launches Kwik Strip Gentlemens Clubs, Sen. Richard Blumenthal's Estimated Net Worth: $70.0 Million, Meet Emma Hernan, the Newest Star Agent on Netflixs Selling Sunset, Meet Leslie Davis, Lyndsay Lambs Sister and One Half of the HGTV Unsellable Houses Duo, Meet Lyndsay Lamb, Leslie Davis Twin and One Half of the HGTV Unsellable Houses Duo, Meet Mike Parker, the Soulful Contestant on American Idol Season 20. Who Is Kyle Baugher: Kelly Reillys Husband Is a Man of Few Words & Lots of Green Dough! Additionally, Blumenthal and his wife have several million in hedge funds. [33] The Pequot were attempting to have the land placed in a federal trust, a legal designation to provide them with land for their sovereign control, as long years of colonization had left them landless. "[135], In March 2019, Blumenthal was one of 38 senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue warning that dairy farmers "have continued to face market instability and are struggling to survive the fourth year of sustained low prices" and urging his department to "strongly encourage these farmers to consider the Dairy Margin Coverage program. [106] Later that day, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden called Blumenthal to express their best wishes.[107]. [39] The suit, which centered on Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system and its contractual restrictions imposed on personal computer manufacturers to tie the operating system to its Internet Explorer browser, was eventually merged with a federal case brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) under Attorney General Janet Reno. A member of the Democratic Party, he is one of the wealthiest members of the Senate,[5] with a net worth over $100 million. "[59] The opposition was due to a report authored by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc. Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, a Cambridge-based energy consulting firm, that alleged that consumers would be worse off under the merger. Khanna's father-in-law, Monte Ahuja, is also founder and CEO of the automotive transmission giant Transtar, another contributor to Rep. Khanna's substantial net worth. He also helped lead a coalition of all 50 states that culminated in historic agreements with social networking sites to better protect children from internet predators. However, some analysts believe Richard Blumenthals wealth could be around $85.0 million or more. "I urge the new Obama EPA to declare carbon dioxide a danger to human health and welfare so we can at last begin addressing the potentially disastrous threat global warming poses to health, the environment and our economy. He underwent surgery, which he said was successful, and left the hospital on April 10.[210]. [174] That same year, he stated his support for efforts to require toy or fake firearms to have orange parts so they could more easily be distinguished from real guns. [129], In December 2021, Blumenthal gave a speech honoring three local labor activists at an awards ceremony in New Haven that was hosted by the Connecticut People's World Committee, an affiliate of the Connecticut Communist Party. [192], In June 2019, Blumenthal was one of eight senators to sponsor the Made in America Act, legislation that would mandate that federal programs that had funded infrastructure projects not currently subject to Buy America standards use domestically produced materials. The senators argued that foreign assistance to Central American countries created less migration to the U.S., citing the funding's help in improving conditions in those countries. [150], In March 2019, Blumenthal led five Democratic senators in signing a letter to the Federal Trade Commission requesting it "use its rulemaking authority, along with other tools, in order to combat the scourge of non-compete clauses rigging our economy against workers" and arguing that incomplete clauses "harm employees by limiting their ability to find alternate work, which leaves them with little leverage to bargain for better wages or working conditions with their immediate employer." By: Caroline John - Published: September 28, 2018 at 7:10 am, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) participates in an anti-Gorsuch rally April 6, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Blumenthal and Cooper secured agreements from MySpace and Facebook to make their sites safer. The Tomasso Group stopped bidding on state contracts to avoid a substantial legal challenge from Blumenthal under newly written compliance statutes. [91] In August 2010, Blumenthal called on Craigslist to shut the section down permanently and take steps to eradicate prostitution ads from other parts of the site. [194], In September 2014, Blumenthal was one of 69 members of the US House and Senate to sign a letter to then-FDA commissioner Sylvia Burwell requesting that the FDA revise its policy banning donation of corneas and other tissues by men who have had sex with another man in the preceding 5 years. In 2011, his real estate investment was a whopping $63.0 million. He has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to declare carbon dioxide a dangerous air pollutant. In 1984, when he was 38, Blumenthal was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing the 145th district. After graduating law school in 1973, Senator Blumenthal clerked for then U.S. District Judge Jon Newman, and then for United States Supreme Court JusticeHarry A.Blackmun. Blumenthal was often considered a top prospect for the Democratic nominee for governor of Connecticut, but never ran for the office. Blumenthal acquired his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where he was classmates with former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. He faced Linda McMahon, a professional wrestling magnate, in the 2010 election, winning with 55% of the vote. [149], Blumenthal has a "C" rating from NORML for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes. [76] The Journal of the American Medical Association described the decision as an example of the "politicization of health policy" that went against the weight of scientific evidence and may have a chilling effect on future decisions by medical associations. The agreement to temporarily halt the move was signed by New Britain Superior Court Judge Marshall Berger. He was sworn in on January 5, 2011. "[203] After the Justice Department publicly released the redacted version of the report the following month, Blumenthal said, "What's demonstrated in powerful and compelling detail in this report is nothing less than a national scandal. [88] He said that prostitution ads remained on the site despite previous assurances that they would be removed. Senator Tammy Baldwin Requests Data from Trump Administration on Consequences of Texas V. United States Prevailing", "U.S. As the chief federal prosecutor of that state, he successfully prosecuted many major cases involving drug traffickers, organized crime, white collar criminals, civil rights violators, consumer fraud, and environmental pollution. Senator Tammy Baldwin Calls on Trump Administration to Implement Farm Bill Dairy Improvements for Wisconsin Dairy Farmers", "Democratic senators rip Trump administration's trade aid to foreign firms, demand a halt", "Menendez, Booker Join Call for Investigation at USDA amid Reports of Scientific Data Suppression", "Senate Democrats press regulators over reported tech investigations", "Legislation introduced to allow lawsuits against Amtrak", "A U.S. senator is joining the call for Uber to end forced arbitration for alleged sexual assault victims", "U.S. Senate to hold crash hearing as lawmakers urge grounding Boeing 737 MAX 8", "U.S. He was the leading Senate sponsor of the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act, alongside Representative Hank Johnson, which would ban the use of the clauses in consumer contracts. "[204], In April 2019, Blumenthal was one of 12 Democratic senators to sign a letter led by Mazie Hirono that questioned Barr's decision to offer "his own conclusion that the President's conduct did not amount to obstruction of justice" and called for both the Justice Department's inspector general and the Office of Professional Responsibility to launch an investigation into whether Barr's summary of the Mueller report and his April 18 news conference were misleading.
