2016 Letter to Senator Pat Toomey and Pennsylvania Voters

The Honorable Pat Toomey
United States Senate
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3806

I may be outgunned but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to let this be easy for you. I am going to expose you for what you are — a traitor. You sold America out by accepting campaign donations from a bank that engages in known terrorist financing.

If I had donated even a single dollar to a terrorist organization, I would be thrown into jail for a very long time. How is it that HSBC can do exactly that, on a massive scale, then get what amounts to a slap on the wrist. How can it be that they can then give money to your political campaign – you, who let HSBC off the hook in the first place?

I remember that holiday season five years ago like it was yesterday. I was sitting at my plastic fold-out desk in my 400-square-foot apartment with nothing left. Not one cent. I remember feeling alone and defeated as I waited tables to try to pay my rent. I remember the pain, the depression, and the anger I felt that financiers of terror were being let off the hook by you. I remember the searing agony and shame of knowing that because I had done the right thing I was waiting tables while my former coworkers had remained silent and were receiving large bonus checks for laundering money for terrorists and drug cartels. Where were you, Mr. Toomey? I suffered, losing everything, and you were silent. You served on the Senate Bank Finance Committee regarding HSBC bank terrorist financing and you let the enemy off the hook.

Five years later, you remain silent. The only difference is that this time you are actually accepting money from HSBC – the same bank that you let off the hook for financing our enemies. Your actions prove that you are neither Republican nor American in your values. Where is your loyalty? I – for one – will not allow you to dictate and define what it means to be American from your high horse. I come from nothing and I fight like I have nothing to lose because I have lost it all, and I will do it again if that is what it takes.

As is true of so many other Americans, the years of suffering and hardship that I endured built character. A man with character does not take money from a bank that finances terror while serving on the Bank Finance Committee. I do not possess your level of financial backing, but my strength does not lie with my finances. Through hardship, I have learned to operate and thrive without money. I am going to win this election with CHARACTER, HONOR, INTEGRITY, and LOYALTY. I will remove the establishment, restore honor to government, and do everything in my power to help Americans who are struggling.

Senator Toomey, through battle the American people are going to see THAT what you really stand for IS MONEY. I know what it is like to be unemployed. I know what it is like to have to find a job without HAVING a degree from an Ivy League School. I know how to build a company and a life from nothing, with no support.

Real governance is not about MONEY. It is about giving people the freedom to make decisions to better themselves. I will ensure that the government leaves people alone and does not interfere in their lives. I am going to restore the freedoms we had nine years ago. Senator Toomey, you are not just a part of the problem. You ARE the problem – you and the entire establishment.

You are fighting to preserve your way of life: your nice dinners, the royal treatment you receive, and your power. In stark contrast, I am fighting to make a significant positive difference for voters and to change their lives for the better. You are running for Senate because you have to keep your perks. I am fighting, with nothing to lose, because I sincerely want to help create positive change.