Scranton, Pa. — Jim Bognet has shown time and time again that he will lie to our community to win elected office. Now, he is at it again.
On Monday, Bognet dusted off his 2020 claims about Congressman Cartwright and funding the police. Bognet has already been caught in this lie before — when he first raised this claim in 2020, Politifact rated it as “false.”
The truth is Congressman Cartwright has voted for billions in annual funding for both local and federal law enforcement and he has the receipts:
- $511.7 million in Community Oriented Police Funding
- $2.2 billion in state and local law enforcement assistance grants
- $61.5 million increase in funding for Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs
- $674.5 million in funding for the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Edward Byrne Memorial JAG program
- $30 million in funding for the Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership
- $120 million for initiatives to improve police-community relations
Additionally, as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, Congressman Cartwright has consistently brought federal dollars right here to northeastern Pennsylvania:
- $2 million for Lackawanna County initiative to reduce drug, gang activity
- $3 million for joint fire, police, public safety station in Moosic
- $2.5 million for Luzerne County emergency first responder unit
- $3.5 million for Scranton Police Department training and technology upgrades
Cartwright campaign press secretary David Early issued the following statement:
“We expect nothing less from Jim Bognet, a shady D.C. lobbying executive and political operative with a history of lying to the people of northeastern Pennsylvania while asking for our votes. Unlike Congressman Cartwright, Jim Bognet has no background of success to run on so he’s clearly resorting to his old playbook of flat-out lies. Our community deserves a representative who truly stands for public safety — and one who tells them the truth and that is why they will send Matt Cartwright back to Congress.”
