SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during an event to open a campaign office at Eastern Market in Detroit, Michigan, on December 21, 2019. (Photo: Jeff Kowalski/AFP via Getty Images)
Bloomberg Says Explosive Report on His Campaign's Use of Prison Labor Is 'Fundamentally Accurate'
"It's honestly one of the most evil things we've ever seen from a presidential campaign, and hopefully Bloomberg's campaign will end with him paying out unimaginable sums to the people he exploited. In a just world it would."
Dec 24, 2019
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement late Tuesday that The Intercept's explosive report on his presidential campaign's use of prison labor to make phone calls is "fundamentally accurate" but insisted he was not aware of the practice, which prompted a torrent of outrage from rights advocates.
"Earlier today, a news outlet reported that prison workers were being used by a subcontractor to make telephone calls on behalf of my campaign," said Bloomberg, the wealthiest individual in the Democratic presidential field. "I'm not attacking the news: the story was fundamentally accurate."
"Use of prison labor is the continued exploitation of people who are locked up, who really have virtually no other opportunities to have employment or make money other than the opportunities given to them by prison officials."
--Alex Friedmann, Prison Legal News
"We only learned about this when the reporter called us," Bloomberg added, "but as soon as we discovered which vendor's subcontractor had done this, we immediately ended our relationship with the company and the people who hired them."
The Intercept reported Tuesday morning that Bloomberg's presidential campaign contracted the New Jersey-based call center company ProCom through a third-party vendor. ProCom runs call centers in New Jersey and Oklahoma.
"Two of the call centers in Oklahoma are operated out of state prisons," The Intercept reported. "In at least one of the two prisons, incarcerated people were contracted to make calls on behalf of the Bloomberg campaign."
An anonymous source told The Intercept that people incarcerated at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center, an Oklahoma women's prison, were making calls to California for Bloomberg's campaign.
"The people were required to end their calls by disclosing that the calls were paid for by the Bloomberg campaign," according to The Intercept. "They did not disclose, however, that they were calling from behind bars."
Bloomberg's campaign said it ended the arrangement with ProCom Monday after The Intercept inquired about the use of prison labor.
Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News, told The Intercept that "use of prison labor is the continued exploitation of people who are locked up, who really have virtually no other opportunities to have employment or make money other than the opportunities given to them by prison officials."
Friedmann said that while it is "entirely possible" Bloomberg was not aware that incarcerated people were making calls on behalf of his campaign, "that's like saying department stores making clothes in southeast Asia don't know that 5-year-olds are stitching together their soccer balls."
David Klion, news editor at Jewish Currents, said the billionaire presidential candidate's use of prison labor "shouldn't be seen as just a fuckup or a moral failing."
"There should be legal and civil consequences for it. Compelling political speech from incarcerated people should be considered unconstitutional," Klion tweeted. "It's honestly one of the most evil things we've ever seen from a presidential campaign, and hopefully Bloomberg's campaign will end with him paying out unimaginable sums to the people he exploited. In a just world it would."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement late Tuesday that The Intercept's explosive report on his presidential campaign's use of prison labor to make phone calls is "fundamentally accurate" but insisted he was not aware of the practice, which prompted a torrent of outrage from rights advocates.
"Earlier today, a news outlet reported that prison workers were being used by a subcontractor to make telephone calls on behalf of my campaign," said Bloomberg, the wealthiest individual in the Democratic presidential field. "I'm not attacking the news: the story was fundamentally accurate."
"Use of prison labor is the continued exploitation of people who are locked up, who really have virtually no other opportunities to have employment or make money other than the opportunities given to them by prison officials."
--Alex Friedmann, Prison Legal News
"We only learned about this when the reporter called us," Bloomberg added, "but as soon as we discovered which vendor's subcontractor had done this, we immediately ended our relationship with the company and the people who hired them."
The Intercept reported Tuesday morning that Bloomberg's presidential campaign contracted the New Jersey-based call center company ProCom through a third-party vendor. ProCom runs call centers in New Jersey and Oklahoma.
"Two of the call centers in Oklahoma are operated out of state prisons," The Intercept reported. "In at least one of the two prisons, incarcerated people were contracted to make calls on behalf of the Bloomberg campaign."
An anonymous source told The Intercept that people incarcerated at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center, an Oklahoma women's prison, were making calls to California for Bloomberg's campaign.
"The people were required to end their calls by disclosing that the calls were paid for by the Bloomberg campaign," according to The Intercept. "They did not disclose, however, that they were calling from behind bars."
Bloomberg's campaign said it ended the arrangement with ProCom Monday after The Intercept inquired about the use of prison labor.
Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News, told The Intercept that "use of prison labor is the continued exploitation of people who are locked up, who really have virtually no other opportunities to have employment or make money other than the opportunities given to them by prison officials."
Friedmann said that while it is "entirely possible" Bloomberg was not aware that incarcerated people were making calls on behalf of his campaign, "that's like saying department stores making clothes in southeast Asia don't know that 5-year-olds are stitching together their soccer balls."
David Klion, news editor at Jewish Currents, said the billionaire presidential candidate's use of prison labor "shouldn't be seen as just a fuckup or a moral failing."
"There should be legal and civil consequences for it. Compelling political speech from incarcerated people should be considered unconstitutional," Klion tweeted. "It's honestly one of the most evil things we've ever seen from a presidential campaign, and hopefully Bloomberg's campaign will end with him paying out unimaginable sums to the people he exploited. In a just world it would."
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement late Tuesday that The Intercept's explosive report on his presidential campaign's use of prison labor to make phone calls is "fundamentally accurate" but insisted he was not aware of the practice, which prompted a torrent of outrage from rights advocates.
"Earlier today, a news outlet reported that prison workers were being used by a subcontractor to make telephone calls on behalf of my campaign," said Bloomberg, the wealthiest individual in the Democratic presidential field. "I'm not attacking the news: the story was fundamentally accurate."
"Use of prison labor is the continued exploitation of people who are locked up, who really have virtually no other opportunities to have employment or make money other than the opportunities given to them by prison officials."
--Alex Friedmann, Prison Legal News
"We only learned about this when the reporter called us," Bloomberg added, "but as soon as we discovered which vendor's subcontractor had done this, we immediately ended our relationship with the company and the people who hired them."
The Intercept reported Tuesday morning that Bloomberg's presidential campaign contracted the New Jersey-based call center company ProCom through a third-party vendor. ProCom runs call centers in New Jersey and Oklahoma.
"Two of the call centers in Oklahoma are operated out of state prisons," The Intercept reported. "In at least one of the two prisons, incarcerated people were contracted to make calls on behalf of the Bloomberg campaign."
An anonymous source told The Intercept that people incarcerated at the Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center, an Oklahoma women's prison, were making calls to California for Bloomberg's campaign.
"The people were required to end their calls by disclosing that the calls were paid for by the Bloomberg campaign," according to The Intercept. "They did not disclose, however, that they were calling from behind bars."
Bloomberg's campaign said it ended the arrangement with ProCom Monday after The Intercept inquired about the use of prison labor.
Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News, told The Intercept that "use of prison labor is the continued exploitation of people who are locked up, who really have virtually no other opportunities to have employment or make money other than the opportunities given to them by prison officials."
Friedmann said that while it is "entirely possible" Bloomberg was not aware that incarcerated people were making calls on behalf of his campaign, "that's like saying department stores making clothes in southeast Asia don't know that 5-year-olds are stitching together their soccer balls."
David Klion, news editor at Jewish Currents, said the billionaire presidential candidate's use of prison labor "shouldn't be seen as just a fuckup or a moral failing."
"There should be legal and civil consequences for it. Compelling political speech from incarcerated people should be considered unconstitutional," Klion tweeted. "It's honestly one of the most evil things we've ever seen from a presidential campaign, and hopefully Bloomberg's campaign will end with him paying out unimaginable sums to the people he exploited. In a just world it would."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.