State Rep. Says General Electric Told Him to Lie About Ex-Im Bank

[Geee]

Free Beacon:

A General Electric employee pressed a Wisconsin legislator to falsely blame the closing of a facility there on the expiration of federal subsidies, the legislator said this week.

 

State Rep. Scott Allen said in a Monday statement that GE government relations executive Patrick Theisen asked Allen to blame the closing of a Waukesha engine manufacturing facility on the recent expiration of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

 

“Mr. Theisen was eager to connect me with his public relations department to help me gin up a press release blaming Congress and demanding they act,” Allen said.

 

According to the Republican legislator, who represents portions of Waukesha and other suburbs west of Milwaukee, Theisen admitted that that explanation was a lie.

 

“In the same conversation, practically in the same breath, he told me that the decision on the Waukesha plant was made some time ago and that it was irreversible,” according to Allen.

 

GE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Allen’s allegations. The company has been pressing Congress to revive the Ex-Im Bank, which financed the purchases of U.S. goods by foreign governments and corporations.

 

Ex-Im expired this month after Congress declined to reauthorize its funding. GE is one of the largest-ever recipients of Ex-Im subsidies, which generally come in the form of loan guarantees or direct financing.

 

Critics pointed to Allen’s statement as evidence of a pattern of deception by GE designed to increase political pressure on Congress to reauthorize the bank.