Sen. Kyrsten Sinema unloads contribution from campaign donor guilty of financial crimes

U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has donated a contribution of $750 that her campaign received from a Phoenix donor with a history of financial crimes, a spokesperson said.

The donor, Ira Gaines, who works at the Arizona-based financial firm Peachtree Partners, pleaded guilty in March to charges of stock manipulation after fighting the charges for two years. He was sentenced to probation in June and was ordered to pay victims of the scheme nearly $100,000, plus a $10,000 fine.

In 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued Gaines an enjoinder after he was accused of making fraudulent offers to shareholders and ordered him to pay upward of $120,000 as part of the judgment. He engaged in “virtually identical conduct” in 1999, the SEC wrote at the time.

Reached for comment, Hannah Hurley, a spokesperson for Sinema, I-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday that the campaign donated Gaines' contribution to charity.

The donation was first reported by Politico.

Federal records show that Gaines, of Phoenix, has been a regular political donor since the early 2000s, often to Republican candidates and causes. He donated upward of $30,000 to political campaigns in 2022, with the largest donations going to then-Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters, the pro-Israel group United Democracy Project, and a joint fundraising committee for national Republicans.

Since his sentencing in June, Gaines has donated to Sinema; Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; and Joe Kent, a Republican candidate running for Congress in Washington.

Reached for comment, Gaines called the language on the SEC’s website about his 2004 judgment “inaccurate” and said he did “nothing illegal” at that time, saying instead that he had his “hand slapped.” He declined to comment further.

Sinema, who last year blocked Democrats in Congress from closing a tax loophole that mainly benefits wealthy investors, has been criticized for her ties to private equity and investment firms.

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Laura Gersony is a national politics reporter for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Contact her at 480-372-0389, or by email at lgersony@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kyrsten Sinema donates tainted campaign contribution to charity