Michigan GOP candidate who downplayed ties to DeVos hires her niece after getting $1 million cash

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August 6, 2020

By Igor Derysh, Salon


Michigan Republican Senate candidate John James has sought to downplay his ties to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, but new campaign finance disclosures show her family is one of his biggest backers.

James, an Army veteran and businessman who lost his 2018 Senate race to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is running again this cycle against Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., with the backing of President Donald Trump.

Though he has tried to distance himself from DeVos, James has enjoyed a cozy relationship with her family.

The Senate candidate has hired Olivia DeVos, the secretary of education’s niece, as his assistant communications director. She is a recent college graduate who appears to have no relevant experience in communications or politics. (The only experience listed on her online resume is as an intern at her family’s Amway empire and as a summer associate at her family’s RDV Corporation.) The hire came after her parents, Douglas and Maria DeVos, directly contributed more than $20,000 to James’ Senate campaigns.

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https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/michigan-gop-candidate-who-downplayed-ties-to-devos-hires-her-niece-after-getting-1-million-cash-infusion/

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We're going to have the pleasure of rejecting John James twice come November.

[Srkdqltr]

1. Good to know.

[safeinOhio]

2. Amway is not my way.

Vote for Gary Peters.

Make a great bumper sticker.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. The Devos Family is pure evil

I am born and raised in Grand Rapids. People have no idea the depths of their vileness.

People in GR will bark about all the charity work the family has done and all the donations, my retort is that they have given zero without getting something in return. They make money off from every single donation they've ever made.

They started a children's hospital that makes them money.

The arena downtown bears the name of Devos's Amway partner, this is a great example to look at. The arena has been fantastic to revitalize downtown GR, but let's look at how it was funded. It was built for $77 Million in the early to mid 90s, taxpayers footed the bill save for $10 Million the Van Andel family donated for the naming rights. Well in return for that they also got a 25 year contract to be the sole managers of the arena. In those 25 years they've probably made their $10 million back 10 times over. And that's how Rightwing philanthropy always works. Every single thing they have their name on in Michigan is a money maker for them.

Contrast it to some of the other charitable families in West Michigan and you'll see a massive difference. Fred Meijer no doubt gave more than the Van Andels and Devos's combined, and yes his name is on a lot, but many of his projects don't bear his name at all and few of them turned a profit for his businesses.

Calvinism is the ruling religion in this part of the state, I'm sure it teaches all kinds of things, but seemingly it's single ruling law is the belief that rich people are rich because god favors them and they are virtuous and that poor people are poor because they're sinners. That's the Devos family, a family of crooks who think their fleecing of people is ordained by god.

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4. Exactly. I lived in GR from 1978-2015. It's now so awesome living in a place where

every other building downtown isn't named De Vos this or Van Andel that.