Tim Kennedy on politics: what the evidence says · JRE #1833
SUBJECT: POLITICS
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
That Ukraine bill, the $40 billion that got put in, everybody's like, oh, the corruption over there. And I was like, we can't throw stones from where we are in our glass house of corruption where you have a senator that makes, you know, whatever, $200,000 and is worth
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The $40 billion figure is accurate: President Biden signed the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117-128) on May 21, 2022, after the Senate approved the package by an 86-11 vote, and the measure is widely reported as roughly $40 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian assistance. Kennedy's salary figure is slightly off: rank-and-file U.S. senators have earned $174,000 per year since 2009, not the roughly $200,000 he cites (only Senate leadership positions, such as majority/minority leader, earn more, at $193,400). The broader implication, that senators grow personally wealthy through means connected to bills like this one, is a general rhetorical point about congressional wealth rather than a specific, sourced allegation tied to the Ukraine aid package; no evidence was found linking this particular appropriations bill to personal enrichment of senators. The topline spending figure is well-supported, the salary figure is a modest overstatement, and the corruption insinuation as applied to this specific bill is unsubstantiated.