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DFL Releases Emails Showing Hagedorn’s Congressional Office Was Used for Wife’s Personal Benefit

10/05/2020

Today, the Minnesota DFL Party released emails showing that Congressman Jim Hagedorn’s office worked to obtain financial benefits for the Congressman’s wife, Minnesota Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan. The emails, obtained by the DFL Party via the Freedom of Information Act, show members of Hagedorn’s staff working to obtain free entry and private, guided tours for Carnahan through several national parks and landmarks.

The first email on the subject (page 21), sent by a member of Hagedorn’s Congressional staff whose salary is funded by our tax dollars, reads in part:

I am emailing on behalf of my bosses wife, Jennifer Carnahan. Mrs. Carnahan would love to have a private guided tour of the Grand Canyon (preferably within the next hour.) She was wondering if the same could be arranged for her as she visits Horseshoe Bend this afternoon, and Angels Landing tomorrow. Likewise, she hopes to get the entry fee waived, as she is a member’s spouse.

These emails come at a time when Congressman Hagedorn is already facing scrutiny, and an ethics complaint, for spending large amounts of tax dollars on campaign-style mailersdirecting tax dollars into the pockets of his employeeshiring a news radio host as a campaign vendor and failing to disclose that, and lying about why he fired his chief of staff.

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota DFL Party, released the following statement:

“Congressman Hagedorn has shown a disturbing pattern of unethically using government resources for his personal benefit and the benefit of those close to him. First, he used our tax dollars to campaign for re-election, then he funneled our tax dollars into the pockets of his cronies, and now he’s using his government position to get free things for his wife. Minnesotans deserve better than the corruption we’re seeing from Congressman Hagedorn. Instead of draining the swamp, Hagedorn has spent his entire time in Washington D.C. filling it with alligators.”