Faso serves purveyors of lies and dark money

Dear Editor, At the Aug. 31 town hall forum in Esopus, U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, was asked if he will continue to take money from the Mercer family to finance his campaigns. The Mercers, billionaires who have supported Breitbart and Steve Bannon to the tune of $10 million, also gave Faso $1 million to defeat Zephyr Teachout in the 2016 race for the 19th Congressional District seat.

Faso refused to answer the question. Instead, he stated that he doesn’t read Breitbart and that Robert Mercer is not a racist. Neither of those questions were asked.

Not only did Faso fail to condemn the far-right Breitbart news organization known for its racist, xenophobic, misogynistic and untruthful publishing, his non-answer assures us that Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah, a member of Trump’s transition team and a champion of Steve Bannon, will continue to fund his campaigns.

Faso has voted 87.8 percent of the time with Trump. He stated again at the forum that he believes in the “magic” of the market, not regulation. He challenged the highly respected Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that 22 million people would lose health insurance under Trumpcare, which he voted for. By doing so, he also voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

Faso is owned by the Mercers. His allegiance is to them, not the people of the district.

We must elect a representative in 2018 who serves the people of our district and not the purveyors of lies and dark money.

Barbara Sides Gardiner, N.Y.