Democratic “Squad” Rep. Ayanna Pressley has spent thousands more on private security with taxpayer dollars despite opposing a measure granting U.S. Supreme Court Justices more security and pushing to defund police, federal records show.
The Massachusetts congresswoman shelled out over $24,300 between March 1 and May 31, 2022, for “security service,” according to the latest House disbursement records. At the same time, Pressley voted against a June bill extending security for justices facing threats after a leaked draft opinion indicated Roe v. Wade would be overturned and has aligned herself with the “Defund Police” movement.
Pressley’s office lists almost $23,000 in “security service” payments to Alisa Tatarian, a financial administrator in her office. Tatarian was similarly listed as the recipient of around $63,000 in 2021 on House disbursements for “security service,” with a Republican source telling the Daily Caller it is likely the funds were directed to another entity and not Tatarian.
The other “security service” contractor is listed as Hackett Security Inc. The company, which Pressley handed $1,400 to in May, provides “federal, state and local government facilities” with a wide array of security products, like alarm systems and video surveillance devices.
The security payments came from Pressley’s taxpayer-backed Member Representational Allowance (MRA). Each legislative year, member of Congress receive the allowance to fund their office and perform official duties, the House government website says.
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“Pressley wants security for her, but not for anyone else, and shamefully voted against funding security for our Supreme Court justices,” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Right now, the American people are witnessing the violent crime skyrocketing across our cities and see through the blatant hypocrisy of the Far-Left Squad and their defund the police movement.”
Pressley joined 26 House Democrats in June to vote against the court security measure, which was dubbed “The Supreme Court Parity Police Act” and unanimously cleared the Senate in May.
The bill was signed by President Joe Biden and sought to counter threats against the six Republican-appointed justices one month after a leaked draft opinion published by Politico indicated the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade would be overturned.
Pressley’s continued security payments also come on the heels of her and other Democrats backing the Defund Police movement after George Floyd’s March 2020 murder in Minneapolis — which sparked nationwide riots and protests.
The congresswoman said in 2020 her support for the Defund Police movement was because the U.S. needs to invest in “communities which have historically been divested from.” Pressley and other Democrats also put forth a bill in 2021 dubbed “The Counseling Not Criminalization In Schools Act” that would bar taxpayer funds from being used to hire or maintain police in schools across the country.
Pressley’s office did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Tatarian or Hackett Security.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Free Press.
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