Corrupt Gabe Vasquez Backed $50K COVID Grant for Company He Disclosed Stock Options In

This morning a new report is out on how Rep. Gabe Vasquez directed $50k in city COVID money to a company he used to work for and disclosed having stock options in.

It doesn’t get more corrupt than that.

Read more below.

Dem Congressman Backed COVID Grant for Company in Which He Disclosed Stock Options While Serving on City Council: Gabe Vasquez Now Says the Stock ‘Had No Value’
By Zach Kessel
Washington Free Beacon
August 27, 2026

When Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D., N.M.) served as a Las Cruces city councilor, he backed a measure to send up to $50,000 in COVID relief money to his former employer while filing financial disclosures stating he held stock options in the company, records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. Vasquez now says they “had no value.”

 

On Feb. 16, 2021, Vasquez voted for a $977,000 COVID relief package that redirected up to $50,000 from hotel lodging for first responders to a program providing remote monitoring equipment for patients recovering from COVID-19 after leaving a hospital. That equipment was supplied by Electronic Caregiver, which has also been known as LifeSupport Medical and SameDay Security. Vasquez worked as the company’s executive vice president of public relations, according to his LinkedIn profile. Vasquez was also repeatedly named as a representative of the company between 2011 and 2013.

 

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Vasquez disclosed holding stock options in Electronic Caregiver at the same time he approved the company’s COVID relief funds. His annual financial disclosure listed the company under a section asking councilors to name “all businesses in which you have any financial interest, including stock or any other equity interest” every year between 2017 and 2021.

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After the Free Beacon reached out for comment, Vasquez updated his disclosure forms, which campaign spokeswoman Patricia Socarras Santiago said was “to make it abundantly clear he had no financial stake in any business while holding office.” She did not provide evidence that Vasquez was aware the options had expired.

 

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City policy stipulates that councilors cannot “use their positions for personal gain or to give unwarranted benefit or treatment to any person” and requires them to “inform their supervisors in writing of reasonably foreseen potential conflicts.” Given that Vasquez appears to have believed he held the stock options and therefore stood to gain from the grant awarded to Electronic Caregiver, he could have chosen to recuse himself from the proceedings. Las Cruces city council minutes show others recusing themselves over conflicts of interest, though Vasquez did not.

 

Read the full article here.

 

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