Politics & Government

Congressman Esty Returns $1,000 in Campaign Cash

The donations came from two men who's business was being regulated by the Department of Environmental Protection, an agency Rep. Elizbath Esty's husband, Dan Esty, presides over as commissioner.

Written by Patch Senior Field Editor Ronald DeRosa

It’s another bit of negative publicity for a sitting congressman and her husband, the chairman of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.   

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty told The Hartford Courant she plans on returning $1,000 in campaign donations that came from two men who own a Prospect-based energy company, BNE Inc.   

Here's why:

As The Courant’s Jon Lender reported, BNE was subject a lawsuit from an environmental group claiming the clean energy business illegally cleared over two acres of state forest land in the northwest part of Connecticut.

DEEP, which is regulated by Esty’s husband, Dan Esty, entered a “consent agreement” with the developers, which required restoration measures, the newspaper reported. 

But, according to Lender's report, the environmental group in this case considered the move a “sweetheart deal," although Dan Esty denies the $1,000 in political contributions to his wife's campaign had any effect on the DEEP decision.  

This comes just a month after Esty returned $3,500 in political contributions from executives and lobbyists for Northeast Utilities, an organization Dan Esty regulates as part of his job as DEEP commissioner.

That donation was the subject of an attack ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here