Warren Financially Benefited from Private Prisons Despite Claiming They Are ‘Profiteering off Cruelty’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) benefited financially from the existence of private prisons despite vowing to ban them on the grounds that they are “profiteering off cruelty,” a report from the Washington Free Beacon revealed.

Warren pledged in June to ban private immigration centers and private prisons, detailing the vow in a Medium post.

“There should be no place in America for profiting off putting more people behind bars or in detention,” Warren wrote:

We didn’t get here by chance. Washington works hand-in-hand with private prison companies, who spend millions on lobbyists, campaign contributions, and revolving-door hires — all to turn our criminal and immigration policies into ones that prioritize making them rich instead of keeping us safe.

“That’s why I will shut down the use of federal private detention facilities by ending all contracts that the Bureau of Prisons, ICE, and the U.S. Marshals Service have with private detention providers,” Warren continued, accusing private prisons of engaging in “exploitation, plain and simple.”

Trump pleads with Virginians to ‘just vote no’ on redistricting measure in telerally call

Another Democrat exits California’s crowded gubernatorial race weeks before the June 2 primary election

Chinese national arrested at JFK after allegedly photographing US military aircraft at Nebraska base

Louisiana Mass Murderer Who Killed 8 Children Previously Got Probation for Firing Gun Toward a School: Report

Mom, pregnant teen and 12-year-old found bound and murdered as police hunt multiple suspects

Cory Booker Calls for ‘Foot Soldiers’ to Take to the Streets to ‘Stand Up’ Against ‘Darkness’ in Bizarre Rant

IDF Takes Quick Action After Soldier Caught Smashing Statue of Jesus in Lebanon

Soros-linked dark money network fuels Virginia redistricting push backed by national Democrats

Republicans Are Banking on ‘October Surprise’ to Keep Senate Majority: Report

GOP blasts Virginia amendment as maps could swing delegation to 10-1 Democratic advantage

Sen. Mark Warner Announces the Death of His 36-Year-Old Daughter

Lawyer for American detained in Iran says hostage deal is ‘easiest problem on the table’ for both sides

A look into the controversies surrounding the now-former secretary of labor

ICE Detains Illegal Alien Accused of Murdering His Co-Worker with a Hammer

WATCH: Cory Booker unleashes fiery call for ‘foot soldiers’ at Michigan Dem conference

She even implicated the Trump administration, accusing it of luring in private prison companies, which “saw their chance to run the same playbook for our immigration system.”

Despite those pleas, Warren has benefited financially from the existence of private prisons.

According to the Free Beacon, Warren invested tens of thousands of dollars — $50,000 — in a Vanguard Group fund which “owned hundreds of millions of dollars worth of shares in leading private prison companies. While she sold her stakes in that fund in 2013, the Free Beacon noted that it was “the largest shareholder of America’s largest private prison corporation” at the time.

The Free Beacon reported:

Warren invested in Vanguard Target Retirement 2025—a retirement account run by the Vanguard Group, an investment management company—which in turn invested more than 30 percent of its money in Vanguard’s domestic stock index fund. Vanguard was the top shareholder of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), and one of the largest of GEO Group, both private prison companies, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Vanguard owned more than 12 million CCA shares and nearly 9 million GEO Group shares, which were worth roughly $456 million and $216 million, respectively, in March 2013.

CCA, now called CoreCivic, was already the country’s largest owner of private prisons in 2013, according to an annual report. The company owned or controlled more than 50 correctional or detention facilities in the country, “with a total design capacity of approximately 86,000 beds in 20 states and the District of Columbia.” GEO Group is also one of the largest private prison providers in the country with 66 prison facilities across the world as of 2013. The two companies also operate many Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities for illegal immigrants.