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.”

Gavin Newsom’s Former Chief of Staff Pleads Guilty to 3 Federal Charges, Faces 38 Years in Prison

McMaster revives Trump-backed push to oust Biden kingmaker from Congress

Fox News Crew Snared by China’s Massive Surveillance System While Covering Trump Visit: ‘They See Everything’

China cozies up as Trump touts delegation of richest business heavyweights at Xi summit

Cuba says CIA chief Ratcliffe met with officials in Havana amid US tensions

Video: ‘CBS Evening News’ Broadcast Ends in Disarray as Crew Member Suffers ‘Medical Emergency’

Supreme Court keeps broader access to abortion pill mifepristone in place while legal fight continues

Britney Spears Reportedly Seen Barking and Screaming During Knife-Wielding Spectacle at Restaurant

Former Kansas mayor who pleaded guilty to illegal voting turns himself in to ICE

DHS rails against illegal aliens hit with capital murder charges for allegedly killing unborn baby: ‘monsters’

Watch: Obama Left Embarrassed as Video Shows Pitiful Welcome He Got in China vs Majestic Welcome Trump Just Got

Bill Cassidy bets on anti-abortion policy to save reelection bid

Insanity: Ex-BLMer and Special Ed Teacher on Leave Over Abuse Allegations Just Elected President of Teachers Union

Jordan grills Soros-backed DA Descano in heated spat over soft-on-crime policy: ‘This is almost laughable’

Wisconsin official cries foul alleging FBI showed up at front door of county election director’s home

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.