A revealing new Mother Jones deep dive into Senator David Perdue’s corporate career uncovered a damning pattern of “profiteering” from the companies he ran. While Senator Perdue now brags about his history of being a “job creator,” he conveniently omits key details like one of his businesses “bottoming out with executives getting paid and workers getting laid off.” It’s one troubling instance after another of “smash-and-grab self-help” that Perdue has continued in the Senate.
When he took over as CEO of Pillowtex, Perdue’s “key recommendation” was “wiping out most of Pillowtex’s U.S. jobs.” When his plan failed, Perdue “took everything he could get” in what was later labeled a “money grab” in a lawsuit while over 7,600 Pillowtex employees were laid off in “the single largest day of job loss in the history of North Carolina to that point.” During his tenure as CEO of Dollar General, Perdue made upwards of $50 million, sold the company below value, and was sued over allegations he “lined his own pockets as part of a leveraged buyout deal.” Once again, Perdue’s leadership led to “everyone but him and the other bosses [getting] less money than they deserved.” Perdue is already under fire for his prolific self-dealing in the Senate, and this latest investigation further exposes the ultra-wealthy corporate insider’s out-of-touch priorities.
“David Perdue is a crook who has always put himself first, not hardworking Americans,” said DSCC spokesperson Shea Necheles. “Throughout his tenure as a wealthy corporate executive and a senator, Perdue has made lining his own pockets his number one priority. Georgians deserve more than a Senator who abuses his position for shady profiteering and crooked behavior.”
Mother Jones: We Can’t Talk About Corruption in the Georgia Runoffs Without Talking About David Perdue and Dollar General
By Jacob Rosenberg
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