Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey is invested, through several mutual funds, in the same Chinese fentanyl manufacturer that he recently claimed a company that was led by Republican candidate Dave McCormick was "profiting off people's pain" by investing in.
The senator's campaign claimed McCormick "saw a way to get even richer" in the fentanyl crisis, in an ad released earlier this month slamming the company he led, Bridgewater Associates, for investing in Humanwell. The ad connected the Chinese company to deaths from fentanyl occurring in Pennsylvania, noting that "nearly all" fentanyl starts in China.
However, Casey, through his investments, owns shares in a mutual fund that owns stock in the Chinese company as well, according to publicly available financial disclosures.
Through his ownership of shares in a college savings plan, which is invested in the Massachusetts College Portfolio, a mutual fund managed by Fidelity, Casey is invested in Humanwell. But, his ultimate stake in the company is minimal.
Maddy McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Democrat's campaign, told Fox News Digital in a statement, "David McCormick will say anything to try and cover up how he sold out Pennsylvanians for profit, but the facts are clear: he directly invested millions in Chinese fentanyl and profited off Pennsylvanians’ pain. David McCormick decided to invest in a Chinese fentanyl company and Bob Casey never did."
As of 2021, Bridgewater Associates had a nearly $1.7 million investment in Humanwell across seven different hedge funds, according to publicly available records with the Department of Labor (DOL). McCormick was CEO of Bridgewater from 2020 to 2022.
"With his ad, Bob Casey has put his own hypocrisy and lies on display, and it's proof of why Pennsylvanians are so tired of career politicians," McCormick said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Casey has had 18 years to secure our border and prevent fentanyl from killing 100,000 Americans last year alone – under his weakness, this crisis has worsened beyond imagination."
Casey is also invested through mutual funds in Jiangsu Nhwa Pharmaceutical and Sinopharm Group, which are similarly involved in the manufacturing and wholesale of Chinese narcotics, respectively.
Humanwell, as a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, produces medical-grade opiates. It is not one of the Chinese companies that has been singled out by the U.S. as a producer of lethal fentanyl precursor chemicals that are transported illegally through the southern border.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), "illicit fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market."
Overdose deaths due to synthetic opioids have risen substantially, with the primary cause being illicitly manufactured fentanyl, per the DEA.
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Pennsylvania is shaping up to be one of the most important states in the 2024 election, potentially deciding the presidential race and which party will control the Senate. And one particularly pressing issue in the state is the rapid increase in overdose deaths and substance abuse.
In 2022, Pennsylvania had the 14th-highest drug overdose death rate in the country. There were a total of 5,169 deaths from drug overdoses, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Following Casey's ad hitting McCormick on investing in Humanwell, the Pennsylvania Republican cut his own ad, claiming, "Bob Casey is lying about me."
"I never made any investments in the makers of illegal fentanyl, ever," he said. "Bob Casey is too weak to close the border and too weak to tell the truth."
Casey's Pennsylvania Senate seat is considered "Lean Democratic" in the 2024 election, according to nonpartisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report. In a recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College, Casey led McCormick 51% to 37% among likely voters and 50% to 36% among registered voters.
