At a press conference here Friday, Falls Church’s State Del. Marcus Simon lashed out at GOP gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie’s deep involvement in the Washington, D.C. “swamp” as a heavy-hitting lobbyist on behalf of some of the nation’s biggest corporations. In the years 2006, 2013 and 2016, he said, Gillespie “made millions from lobbying and consulting work while thousands of Virginians went home without a job and without pay.” In those years, he earned $5.2 million as a Washington lobbyist and consultant, with big paychecks coming from Bank of America and AT&T and included lobbying against making college education more affordable and siding with energy companies over Virginians, Simon charged.

In addition, he lobbied on behalf of Tenet Healthcare while it was defrauding Medicare and Medicaid through an illegal kickback scheme that took advantage of expectant mothers, he said. “Over more than a decade, the company illegally obtained $145 million of Medicare and Medicaid funds resulting in a settlement with the Department of Justice for more than $500 million.”