Scandal-mired Republican illegally shipped arms to foreign govs while in Congress: report
A scandal-plagued Republican congressman was illegally running an arms-export business to foreign countries while serving in the House of Representatives, reporter Roger Sollenberger revealed in an investigative Substack post — and his company to do so was run into the ground and is now in foreclosure.
Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) has faced a series of other allegations and controversies this year, including a physical abuse claim from a woman he was involved with; an eviction from his Washington, D.C. penthouse after defaulting on $85,000 in rent; an ongoing Congressional ethics investigation into unprofessional conduct, stolen valor, and failure to disclose gifts; and accusations he hired sex workers during a 2021 trip to Afghanistan.
This new controversy involves PACEM, a security contracting company that Mills and his wife co-founded in 2014.
Congressional inquiry into Mills involves "roughly $2 million in 'personal loans' Mills gave his 2022 congressional campaign," noted Sollenberger. "But according to legal experts and a review of court records, campaign filings, and personal and corporate financial statements, those 'personal' funds appear more likely tied to a different source: tens of millions of dollars in corporate loans Mills secured from a foreign lender to bail out his moribund weapons dealing business."
"The amount of PACEM’s debt is existential. Today, PACEM owes a whopping $66 million, according to recent court filings. That’s anywhere between six and 33 times what Mills’s disclosures say the company is worth," wrote Sollenberger. Making matters worse, Mills, who serves on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, has never disclosed any of this debt on his ethics forms, despite the fact that since 2019, he has been personally liable for the debt, requiring it to be disclosed.
Over the summer, Ninepoint Partners, a Canadian asset management firm that serves as PACEM's lender, terminated their debt fund and moved to foreclose on PACEM's factory.
Even further complicating all this, PACEM was not just a federal contractor but also exporting arms to foreign governments, including Ukraine, as it fights to defend itself from Russian invasion. "Legal and industry experts, citing federal statutes, told me that, as with PACEM’s government contracts, Mills’s ownership means those exports are likely illegal in the first place," said the report.
Sollenberger, who has conducted a nine-month investigation into Mills, has promised more revelations about the embattled congressman are coming.