Democrat Running For State Controller Studied Socialism in Venezuela on a Trip in 2006

Malia Cohen, a Democrat running for California State Controller, the state’s fiscal watchdog, traveled to Venezuela in 2006 to learn about Hugo Chavez’s socialist revolution, Fox News reported Tuesday. Cohen, who currently is a member of the California State Board of Equalization, made a 10-day trip to Venezuela for $1,250.

Fox continues:

Cohen’s trip to the country was documented in a CNN story about the group’s tour, with Cohen claiming that “revolutionary thought” is “generational” as it showed an image of her gazing at a mural featuring a quote from Venezuelan leader Simon Bolivar that roughly translates to: “The health of a Republic depends on the morality acquired by education of citizens in childhood.…”

“The revolutionary thought and mindset is generational,” Cohen told the outlet at the time. “What we see in the United States, and you really don’t see grandparents and parents and even young as active politically.”

“We always knew Malia Cohen was extreme, but we had no idea she was this extreme,” Lanhee Chen, the lead candidate for State Controller told the Globe.

“The last thing we need as California’s fiscal watchdog is someone who extolled the virtues of socialism,” Chen said. “The many Californians who fled socialist countries deserve to know why Malia took this trip and whether she still believes in ‘the revolutionary thought and mindset’ of Hugo Chavez’s brutal regime.”

Venezuela was once among the richest countries in the world, and maintained a robust constitutional democracy until Hugo Chavez’s brutal dictatorship dismantled all democratic institutions and destroyed the economy, forcing the Venezuelan people into extreme poverty.

“The Controller is California’s independent fiscal watchdog,” Chen explains on his website. “The person who makes sure that taxpayer money—OUR money—is spent as we’re told it will be. But that’s not happening now. In fact, the Controller can’t even tell us where she sent over $300 billion in payments in 2018 alone.”

Chen, the son of immigrants from Taiwan, earned four degrees from Harvard University, including a law degree and doctorate in political science. Chen has served in senior roles in both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations. Describing why he is running for State Controller, Chen says no one is watching out for the California taxpayer.

“We need new leadership that isn’t afraid to take on as much as $30 billion of fraud in our state unemployment insurance system,” Chen says. “Russian mobsters and convicted murderers like Scott Peterson shouldn’t be getting government payments, while single moms in need go without.”

The Controller manages the state’s checkbook – it is a very important and serious role in State Government.

The Controller is responsible for:

• accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources
• independently audits government agencies that spend state funds
• administers the payroll system for state government employees and California State University employees
• serves on 70 boards and commissions with authority ranging from state public land management to crime victim compensation
• is a member of numerous financing authorities, and fiscal and financial oversight entities including the Franchise Tax Board and Board of Equalization
• also serves on the boards of the nation’s two largest public pension funds

Cohen was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and led efforts to divest the city’s pension fund from fossil fuels. She currently is a member of the Board of Equalization where she “works to provide tax relief for Californians reeling from the pandemic, while holding corporations accountable for paying their fair share,” Cohen’s campaign website says. She was born and raised in San Francisco, earned a BA from Fisk University, and a Master’s in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

In the June 2022 Primary Election, Lanhee Chen received 2,533,305 votes (37.2%), and Malia Cohen received 1,542,397 votes (22.7%), out of 6 total candidates, according to the California Secretary of State.

You can read the Fox News article here.