A firefighter’s spouse, Diane Cotter, whose husband developed a career-ending cancer due to significant exposure to forever chemicals in firefighter gear, is criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for their lack of action on PFAS and other issues.
A post on X by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) supporting Biden after his disastrous debate performance caught Cotter’s attention.
“The AFL-CIO stands in strong solidarity with the Biden-Harris ticket. President Biden and Vice President Harris have always had workers’ backs — and we will have theirs,” the post by the labor union’s account read.
The AFL-CIO boasts on its website that it is “the democratic, voluntary federation of 60 national and international labor unions that represent more than 12.5 million working people. We strive to ensure all working people are treated fairly, with decent paychecks and benefits, safe jobs, dignity, and equal opportunities.”
Incensed by the union’s X post, Cotter had different thoughts about whether Biden and Harris understood and represented the same values that the AFL-CIO claims to embody.
He’s attached to DuPont money and she’s a fraud.
She’s a fraud.
In 2018? 2019? I was a lone woman lobbying Capitol Hill on the firefighter PFAS great deception. In those years I was boxing the corrupt union leader who was in bed with the perps.
I visited her office and…— Diane Cotter (@Di_Cotter) July 3, 2024
“[Biden’s] attached to DuPont money and [Harris is] a fraud. She’s a fraud. In 2018? 2019? I was a lone woman lobbying Capitol Hill on the firefighter PFAS great deception. In those years I was boxing the corrupt union leader who was in bed with the perps,” Cotter’s response began on X.
“I visited [Harris’] office and spoke to an intern — left her a 27 page packet (then used to write the firefighter PFAS act by [Sen. Gary] Peters) Kamala never responded — till may 2024 she uttered the words ‘firefighters PFAS exposures from their gear’… when it was safe. When we finally got a new union president who took this on. She did exactly what [Gov. of Massachusetts] Maura Healey did… looked to the messages the then union was sending and stood down,” Cotter wrote.
The Dallas Express spoke to Cotter for more clarification on her post.
Cotter explained that her communication with then-Sen. Harris’ office happened during “the war years… 2016 to 2020,” when she alleges that the leadership of the firemen’s union was so cozy with the fire gear manufacturers that it prevented them from taking action against PFAS in firemen’s turnout gear.
These were also the years when Cotter claimed she was under a shunning order issued by the union for spurring the investigation and early studies into PFAS contamination of firemen’s gear after her husband Paul was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. For the backstory, look here, as reported by DX.
Cotter told DX that she never heard from Harris’ office and suspects it was because many politicians, especially congressional Democrats, were reluctant to talk to her.
“[Harris] did in 2019 what so many others did… she looked to see what the union was doing on [PFAS], and then she did nothing,” Cotter said. “In those days, word on the street was, Diane Cotter is crazy.”
Cotter was not crazy; rather, she was persistent because she knew she was onto something. Numerous studies, including those publicly available and in the packets she gave to legislators, confirmed the dangers of PFAS.
“[PFAS] are known as ‘forever chemicals’ as they are extremely persistent in our environment and bodies. They can lead to health problems such as liver damage, thyroid disease, obesity, fertility issues, and cancer,” the European Environment Agency, one of the first organizations of its kind to flag PFAS, stated on its website.
Eventually, union leadership changed, with the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) electing Ed Kelly as president. Kelly became aggressive about investigating and campaigning against the chemical, understanding its dangers are often life-threatening or can diminish the quality of life.
Kelly and others supported Cotter’s efforts and re-oriented the IAFF’s messaging on PFAS.
Cotter asserts that Harris’ recently broadcasted concern is not based on a sincere concern about firefighters like her husband. In her view, Harris publicly took a stand on PFAS because the union stopped resisting discussions on the topic, and the political climate changed.
She credits Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Congressman Jimmy McGovern (D-MA) of her home state, Massachusetts, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) for meeting with her and introducing legislation to fund studies into PFAS, even when the political climate was least conducive to her putting a spotlight on the issue.
Cotter’s recent post on X was not the first time she has hammered the Biden administration over PFAS.
When I began the research into the greatest deception ever, I looked at the big donors of Biden., the DuPont VPs were donors of his 10,000 a plate dinners and the Maryland ties to Biden and DuPont VPs shocked me.
In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, i warned Congress on this issue.… https://t.co/XIFGsPzxGo— Diane Cotter (@Di_Cotter) March 10, 2024
Cotter previously slammed Biden for taking donations from DuPont executives and called out Harris for her inaction. She endorsed her preferred candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “@RobertKennedyJr has my vote for President,” Cotter posted.
DX reached out to Vice President Harris for comment, but she did not respond by publication.
