Miami Herald: “Luna’s office and campaign didn’t respond to questions about the investment.”
The Miami Herald exposed Anna Paulina Luna for investing between $200,000 and $450,000 in America First Natural Resources LLC — “the brainchild of one of Luna’s top political supporters.”
As the Herald reported, “ethics experts say such arrangements raise questions about whether a politician got any special treatment or could use their official position to help boost profits for the company and themselves.”
And with Luna sitting on the House Natural Resources Committee and a subcommittee on Energy Policy, she owes Floridians answers on her shady investment.
DCCC Spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen:
“Investing in your wealthy donor’s energy company while sitting on Congressional committees legislating energy policy should raise some eyebrows – but questionable ethics are nothing new for Anna Paulina Luna.”
Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has invested a significant share of her disclosed assets in a company owned by one of her political donors.
Luna, a conservative Republican seeking re-election to her St. Petersburg-area seat, disclosed in May that she had invested between $200,000 and $450,000 in America First Natural Resources LLC, a company created by a political supporter that aims to produce oil and gas in the United States.
While there is no prohibition against members of Congress doing business with their political supporters, ethics experts say such arrangements raise questions about whether a politician got any special treatment or could use their official position to help boost profits for the company and themselves.
Luna, an Air Force veteran who entered politics after working at the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, sits on the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs.
Luna’s office and campaign didn’t respond to questions about the investment.
While the name appears to be an homage to former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Luna in her successful 2022 run, it isn’t clear whether it has any connection to the former president.
It is, however, the brainchild of one of Luna’s top political supporters, Bruce Rosenthal, a St. Petersburg-area investment banker with a background in oil and gas.
Rosenthal has given more than $40,000 since 2020 to political committees supporting Luna. He’s given more than $330,000 in political donations overall in that time period, largely to Luna’s fellow members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and political groups supporting them.
“Anytime you overlay a campaign donation with financial activities of a member of congress, it’s a combustible cocktail,” said Meredith McGehee, former executive director of Issue One, a nonprofit organization which seeks to reduce the influence of money in politics.
