IndyStar: Indiana Attorney General Rokita being paid tens of thousands of dollars for advisory roles
ICYMI: Attorney General Rokita gives up private-sector job after scrutiny
Don’t Forget: Todd Rokita tweets Valentine’s Day meme implying 2020 election was stolen from Trump
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today condemned Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita for once again diminishing the respect and value of the Office of the Attorney General. In another bombshell report, Rokita has been found yet again in an ethics scandal for his decision to accept payments from various industries – including healthcare – while serving as Indiana’s Attorney General. Todd Rokita is a well-known opponent of the Affordable Care Act and has shown through his actions that he’ll not just put a dangerous political ideology ahead of the duties his office demands – but now, possibly private interests over the public good.
Further, the report illustrated the turbulent start for Rokita since being sworn in two months ago, and the Indiana Democratic Party believes this is just a sign of things to come for the Attorney General.
“Todd Rokita is a walking conflict of interest, and he has voided himself from any credibility while serving as Indiana’s attorney general,” said Drew Anderson, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Rokita represents an Indiana Republican Party that has no vision for the state and would rather use political offices to push a dangerous ideology than simply get things done for our families. This very fact is why Hoosiers are losing trust in Indiana Republicans.”
IndyStar: Indiana Attorney General Rokita being paid tens of thousands of dollars for advisory roles
“Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is getting paid $25,000 a year for advising a Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company on top of being compensated by at least one other company for similar work, IndyStar has discovered.
On Wednesday, Rokita filed a financial disclosure form with the Indiana inspector general’s office in which he described his ongoing involvement in 2020 with various companies. He acknowledged being paid by these companies, but his office declined to tell IndyStar how much.” […]
“The financial disclosure comes weeks after Rokita faced scrutiny when it was reported that he was still working for the health care benefits firm Apex Benefits despite taking public office.
Last week he announced that he was stepping away from playing an active role in the company, but the financial disclosure and federal Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that he is still making tens of thousands of dollars for his involvement in the private sector.
Rokita declined on Wednesday to speak with IndyStar about his decision to leave Apex Benefits.” […]
“The companies he was referring to were business accelerator Acel360, the Indianapolis-based transportation and logistics company Merchandise Warehouse and pharmaceutical company Sonnet BioTherapeutics.
IndyStar confirmed with Sonnet BioTherapeutics that he is still being compensated by the company. Merchandise Warehouse declined to comment on compensation.
IndyStar was also able to confirm that he is being compensated by another pharmaceutical company called NanoViricides that he began working with in 2020.
SEC filings reveal that the Connecticut-based NanoViricides, which develops medicines to treat viruses, pays Rokita $25,000 a year and provided him $15,000 in stocks for his ongoing work with the company. His financial disclosure described Rokita as their pharmaceutical development director.
Sonnet BioTherapeutics CEO Pankaj Mohan told IndyStar that Rokita has been a paid member of their business strategy advisory committee since last year.” […]
“It is unclear why Rokita’s involvement as a business advisor to Sonnet BioTherapeutics was not reported by the publicly traded company to the SEC. Mohan has not responded to requests for additional information that were sent last week.” […]
“Tim Siddiq, the founder and CEO of Merchandise Warehouse, confirmed that Rokita had been involved with the company since 2019. But Rokita did not report this involvement to the state’s inspector general when he filed financial disclosure documents during his candidacy for attorney general last year.
A spokesperson for the inspector general’s office told IndyStar that board participation that comes with compensation must be disclosed. Craft told IndyStar that Rokita did not report Merchandise Warehouse because state law didn’t require it.”
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