Just days after receiving an early coronavirus briefing in February, Senator Susan Collins took off to attend a high dollar fundraiser in Florida hosted by Trump campaign finance chair and former big pharma executive Bob Hugin. Now, her latest campaign finance filing has revealed that she received an additional $10,200 in contributions from Hugin and his wife.
During Hugin’s tenure as CEO of Celgene, the company engaged in “controversial financial and legal tactics” to avoid competition and keep drug prices high while charging cancer patients up to $180,000 annually for a drug that cost the company only $240 to produce.
Hugin has also parroted Donald Trump’s dangerous rhetoric on the coronavirus pandemic. He pushed for an early reopening this spring and claimed that without an aggressive reopening strategy “the cure itself is going to be so much worse than the disease.”
“When Susan Collins had the opportunity to take early action to prepare our state for this pandemic, she chose instead to jet off to a big pharma fundraiser in Florida,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “Now, months into the coronavirus crisis, she’s still prioritizing big campaign checks from Trump’s top lieutenants over securing relief for struggling Mainers and cash strapped state and local governments.”
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