COVID Fraud Charges Draw Different Media Focus on Democratic Party Ties

Two Democratic Party officials from Massachusetts have been charged for alleged COVID fraud.

The Charges: Massachusetts State Rep. Francisco Paulino was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly obtaining more than $700,000 in COVID unemployment insurance benefits and small-business loans. He was charged with eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions. According to federal prosecutors, Paulino used intermediaries and the identities of other people "to funnel pandemic-related relief funds to his own personal and business bank accounts" from April 2020 to December 2021. Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena was arrested August 14, accused of illegally obtaining more than $1.5 million in COVID relief money in a reportedly separate scheme.

Differences in Framing: Outlets across the political spectrum tended to cover many of the same details. However, outlets on the right like Fox News (Right bias) and The New York Post (Right) highlighted the "Democratic Officials" in the headline. Conversely, many outlets on the left like The Boston Globe (Left) and CBS (Lean Left), either didn't mention party affiliation at all, or didn't lead with it like outlets on the right.

RELATED: How Public Employees Used COVID-19 Relief Funds for Fraud

 Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.