No, Sen. Bob Casey did not invest in a Chinese fentanyl company

Various right-wing outlets are reporting that Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey invested in a Chinese fentanyl producer. This is false.

Casey, a Democrat, has represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate since 2007. He is now seeking a fourth term. His Republican opponent is hedge fund manager Dave McCormick.

McCormick was an executive at the capital investment firm Bridgewater Associates from 2009 to 2022. In this period, Bridgewater invested $1.7 million in Humanwell, a pharmaceutical company that makes medical-grade opiates, including fentanyl.

Bridgewater’s Humanwell investments became a political liability for McCormick. Pennsylvania had the fourth-highest number of opioid deaths in the United States in 2022. McCormick also took personal responsibility for all of Bridgewater’s investments during his tenure.

“I was the CEO, so whatever we did I’m responsible for,” McCormick told the American Enterprise Institute in 2023.

On Aug. 13, Fox News and The New York Post, both owned by right-wing billionaire Rupert Murdoch, reported that Casey also had investments in Humanwell. These reports explained that the investments were through a mutual fund, but omitted other crucial details.

According to Casey’s personal financial disclosures, he has between $15,000 and $50,000 invested in the Massachusetts College Portfolio, an investment account designed to help families save on future education expenses. The money in the plan is invested in various index funds. 

Casey does not have control over the investments made by these index funds. Additionally, investors in index funds only own shares of the funds themselves, not a direct stake in the companies that the funds invest in.

Approximately 5.96% of Casey’s education savings account is invested in the Fidelity Series Global index fund. That fund has a 0.001% stake in Humanwell. That makes Casey’s estimated Humanwell contribution no greater than three cents. It could be as low as an eighth of a cent.

McCormick responded to the reports about Casey’s investments with a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer accusing Casey of “hypocrisy and lies.”

A Casey campaign spokesperson provided the following response: ““David McCormick will say anything to try and cover up how he sold out Pennsylvanians for profit, but the facts are clear: he directly invested millions in Chinese fentanyl and profited off Pennsylvanians’ pain. David McCormick decided to invest in a Chinese fentanyl company and Bob Casey never did.”