NEW AD: Shannon Taylor Calls Out Rob Wittman for Cashing In on Data Center Stocks While Virginians’ Utility Bills Skyrocket

Wittman traded data center stocks while voting to hand the industry billions in tax breaks

HENRICO, Va. — Henrico’s top prosecutor Shannon Taylor released a new ad, “Cashing In,” which exposes how Rep. Rob Wittman is personally invested in the data center boom that is driving up utility rates for families across Virginia’s First Congressional District. 

The ad highlights that Wittman traded roughly half a million dollars in data center stocks while voting to hand the same industry billions of dollars in tax breaks — even as massive electricity demands push utility costs higher for everyday Virginians. In the ad, Taylor calls for a ban on congressional stock trading, so politicians can’t cash in while raising our costs. 

WATCH “Cashing In” HERE:

Transcript:

SHANNON TAYLOR: Data centers and monopoly utilities are getting rich off of our tax dollars.

And jacking up our rates.

Because politicians, like Rob Wittman, sell us out.

Wittman traded half a million dollars in data center stocks and gave them billions in tax breaks.

Wittman personally gets rich when our costs go up.

That’s why we need to ban congressional stock trading.

I’m Shannon Taylor, and I approve this message. Because I’m not afraid of this fight.

Rob Wittman Has Used his Office to Get Rich

• Wittman’s personal wealth has grown as much as 40-fold during his time in Congress, as he traded up to $2.5 million in stocks
• He voted for an $80 billion tax break for data centers and a 10-year ban on states and localities regulating them — all while owning stock in the very industry cashing in on the data center boom. 
• Sits on the House Armed Services Committee while buying stock in defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Honeywell — companies with business before the very committee he serves on, as Business Insider reported.
• Traded up to $750,000 in health insurance and Big Pharma stocks — including shares in AbbVie, purchased as the pharmaceutical giant worked on COVID-19 treatments, according to Politico — then voted to raise our healthcare premiums and prescription drug prices.
• Violated the STOCK Act – a law aimed at preventing insider trading from lawmakers.

Taylor is Running to Hold Washington Accountable

While Rob Wittman has spent his 20 years in Congress cowering to his corporate donors and party leaders at every turn, Taylor has spent her entire career fighting for the safety of her community. Under her watch, murder rates dropped by over 80% in the county, overall violent crime has trended down in the last five years and she made Henrico a statewide leader in prosecuting sex trafficking cases, and drug overdoses went down by 18%. 

Now, she’s taking that same fight to Congress to prosecute the case against the corruption that is hurting Virginians every day and ensure Congress finally starts serving the people they were elected to represent. Ready to take on politicians across both parties, she released her Serve the People First Agenda to ban stock trading by members of Congress who have information that regular Americans don’t have access to, to stop the revolving door that allows Washington politicians to cash in on their influence by becoming lobbyists, and to mandate jail time for politicians who break the public trust. 

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ABOUT SHANNON:

Shannon Taylor is a battle-tested prosecutor with 25 years of experience and a 90% conviction rate in homicide cases, taking on the toughest threats to Virginia families and delivering justice. A native of Charlottesville and graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond Law School, she began her career as a prosecutor in Richmond before serving as a Special Assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s office. In 2011, she flipped the Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office from Republican to Democrat, becoming the first woman elected to the role. She has since been re-elected three times, proving she knows how to win tough races.

As Commonwealth’s Attorney, Taylor has pioneered programs to support victims of human trafficking, created a task force to tackle the opioid epidemic, and led prosecutors statewide in pledging not to criminalize women or doctors for abortion care. She has worked alongside law enforcement to keep families safe, fought fraud that harms working people, and partnered with gun safety advocates to take illegal guns off the streets.

Shannon Taylor has built her career on protecting Virginians and delivering justice for families regardless of their politics. 

For more on Shannon Taylor’s campaign, visit ShannonTaylorVA.com.

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