89 Facts About Richard Blumenthal

Richard Blumenthal is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Connecticut, a seat he has held since 2011.

Richard Blumenthal was Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011.

Richard Blumenthal graduated from Harvard College, where he was editor-in-chief of The Harvard Crimson.

Richard Blumenthal studied for a year at Trinity College, Cambridge, in England before attending Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.

From 1970 to 1976, Richard Blumenthal served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, attaining the rank of sergeant.

Richard Blumenthal served one term in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987; in 1986 he was elected to the Connecticut Senate and began service in 1987.

Richard Blumenthal was elected Attorney General of Connecticut in 1990 and served for 20 years.

Richard Blumenthal announced his 2010 run for US Senate after incumbent Senator Chris Dodd announced his retirement.

Richard Blumenthal was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jane and Martin Richard Blumenthal.

At age 17, Martin Richard Blumenthal immigrated to the United States from Frankfurt, Germany; Jane was raised in Omaha, Nebraska, graduated from Radcliffe College, and became a social worker.

Martin Richard Blumenthal had a career in financial services and became president of a commodities trading firm.

Richard Blumenthal's brother David Richard Blumenthal is a doctor and health care policy expert who became president of the Commonwealth Fund.

Richard Blumenthal attended Riverdale Country School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Richard Blumenthal was a summer intern reporter for The Washington Post in the London Bureau.

Richard Blumenthal was selected for a Fiske Fellowship, which allowed him to study at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge in England for one year after graduation from Harvard.

In 1973, Richard Blumenthal received his JD degree from Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.

Richard Blumenthal was a classmate of future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and radio host Michael Medved.

Richard Blumenthal received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, first educational deferments, then deferments based on his occupation.

Richard Blumenthal served in units stationed in Washington, DC and Connecticut from 1970 to 1976, attaining the rank of sergeant.

Richard Blumenthal denied having intentionally misled voters, but acknowledged having occasionally "misspoken" about his service record.

Richard Blumenthal later apologized to voters for remarks about his military service which he said had not been "clear or precise".

At age 31, Richard Blumenthal was appointed United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, serving from 1977 to 1981.

Richard Blumenthal is the daughter of real estate investor Peter L Malkin.

In 1984, when he was 38, Richard Blumenthal was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing the 145th district.

Richard Blumenthal did so after representing Joseph Green Brown, a Florida death row inmate who was found to have been wrongly convicted.

Richard Blumenthal succeeded in staving off Brown's execution just 15 hours before it was scheduled to take place, and gained a new trial for Brown.

Richard Blumenthal was elected the 23rd Attorney General of Connecticut in 1990 and reelected in 1994,1998,2002 and 2006.

Richard Blumenthal argued that the state of Connecticut should be reimbursed for Medicaid expenses related to smoking.

In December 2007, Richard Blumenthal filed suit against RJ Reynolds, alleging that a 2007 Camel advertising spread in Rolling Stone magazine used cartoons in violation of the master tobacco settlement, which prohibited the use of cartoons in cigarette advertising because they entice children and teenagers to smoke.

Richard Blumenthal paid the state of Connecticut $150,000 to settle the suit and agreed to end the advertising campaign.

Richard Blumenthal was involved in a series of lawsuits against associates of Connecticut Governor Rowland and the various entities of the Tomasso Group over Tomasso's bribing of state officials, including Rowland, in exchange for the awarding of lucrative state contracts.

In September 1999, Richard Blumenthal announced a lawsuit against Robin Barnes, the president and treasurer of New Haven-based charter school the Village Academy, for serious financial mismanagement of the state-subsidized charitable organization.

In 2004, Richard Blumenthal sued Computer Plus Center of East Hartford and its owner, Gina Kolb, on behalf of the state.

Kolb was initially awarded $18.3 million in damages, but Richard Blumenthal appealed the decision and the damages initially awarded were reduced to $1.83 million.

Richard Blumenthal played a pivotal role in the expansion of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the departures of Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech from the Big East.

Richard Blumenthal led efforts by the Big East football schools in legal proceedings against the Atlantic Coast Conference, the University of Miami and Boston College, accusing them of improper disclosure of confidential information and of conspiring to dismantle the Big East.

On October 2,2006, Richard Blumenthal launched an investigation of a botched reconstruction project of Interstate 84 in Waterbury and Cheshire.

In November 2006, Blumenthal tried, as Paul A Offit described it, "to legislate a disease, Chronic Lyme, into existence".

Richard Blumenthal launched an antitrust investigation into the Infectious Diseases Society of America's 2006 guidelines regarding the treatment of Lyme disease.

In 2008, Richard Blumenthal ended the investigation after the IDSA agreed to conduct a review of the guidelines.

At Richard Blumenthal's urging, MySpace installed a link to free blocking software, but in May 2006, Richard Blumenthal announced that the site had failed to make the program easy to find and that it was not clearly labeled.

Richard Blumenthal urged MySpace to take further steps to safeguard children, including purging deep links to pornography and inappropriate material, tougher age verification, and banning users under 16.

Richard Blumenthal was co-chair, along with North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, of the State Attorney General Task Force on Social Networking.

In March 2008, Richard Blumenthal issued a letter to Craigslist attorneys demanding that the website cease allowing postings for erotic services, which he claimed promoted prostitution, and accused the site of "turning a blind eye" to the problem.

Richard Blumenthal said that prostitution ads remained on the site despite previous assurances that they would be removed.

Richard Blumenthal called on Congress to alter a landmark communications law that Craigslist has cited in defense of the ads.

Richard Blumenthal has been a vocal advocate of the scientific consensus on climate change, that human activity is responsible for rising global temperatures and that prompt action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must be taken.

Richard Blumenthal has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to declare carbon dioxide a dangerous air pollutant.

Richard Blumenthal was often considered a top prospect for the Democratic nominee for governor of Connecticut, but never ran for the office.

On March 18,2007, Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie reported that Richard Blumenthal had become seriously interested in running for governor in 2010.

On February 2,2009, Richard Blumenthal announced he would forgo a gubernatorial run and seek reelection that year as attorney general.

Later that day, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden called Richard Blumenthal to express their best wishes.

Rasmussen Reports polled after Richard Blumenthal announced his candidacy and found a somewhat more competitive race, but with Richard Blumenthal holding a strong lead.

The New York Times reported that Richard Blumenthal misspoke on at least one occasion by saying he'd served with the military "in Vietnam".

Richard Blumenthal's commanding officer in 1974 and 1975, Larry Baldino of Woodbridge, addressed the controversy in a letter to the editor in the New Haven Register.

Days after the nomination, Quinnipiac University Polling Institute polling indicated that Richard Blumenthal held a 25-point lead over McMahon.

The Cook Political Report changed its assessment of the race to Leans Democratic, making Richard Blumenthal the favored candidate over McMahon.

In November 2020, Richard Blumenthal announced that he would seek reelection in 2022.

Richard Blumenthal was sworn into the 112th United States Congress on January 5,2011.

Richard Blumenthal announced plans to return to Connecticut every weekend to join a "listening tour" of his home state.

Richard Blumenthal worked with Senator Mark Kirk to eliminate pensions for members of Congress who are convicted of felonies while serving in office.

Richard Blumenthal called for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Richard Blumenthal requested an investigation into the lack of response from law enforcement and the military.

In December 2021, Richard Blumenthal gave a speech honoring three local labor activists at an awards ceremony in New Haven that was hosted by the Connecticut People's World Committee, an affiliate of the Connecticut Communist Party.

Richard Blumenthal opposed efforts by Walmart to ban the sale of emergency contraception and supports requirements that pharmacies fill birth control prescriptions.

Richard Blumenthal is one of Congress's most vocal critics of arbitration clauses and class action waivers.

Richard Blumenthal was the leading Senate sponsor of the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act, alongside Representative Hank Johnson, which would ban the use of the clauses in consumer contracts.

Richard Blumenthal additionally introduced separate legislation with Representative Conor Lamb aimed to prohibit Amtrak from enforcing such clauses in its customer agreements.

Richard Blumenthal called for the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ground all Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in the United States until an investigation into the cause of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 is complete.

Richard Blumenthal has a "C" rating from NORML for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes.

On March 3,2020, Richard Blumenthal cosponsored a bill to make it difficult for people and organizations to use encryption under the EARN-IT Act of 2020.

In June 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of 44 senators to introduce the International Climate Accountability Act, legislation that would prevent Trump from using funds in an attempt to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and directing the Trump administration to instead develop a strategic plan for the United States that would allow it to meet its commitment under the Paris Agreement.

In June 2018, Richard Blumenthal cosponsored a bipartisan bill that would reinstate penalties on ZTE for export control violations in addition to barring American government agencies from either purchasing or leasing equipment or services from ZTE or Huawei.

In May 2019, Richard Blumenthal was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.

In July 2019, Richard Blumenthal was a cosponsor of the Defending America's 5G Future Act, a bill that would prevent Huawei from being removed from the "entity list" of the Commerce Department without an act of Congress and authorize Congress to block administration waivers for US companies to do business with Huawei.

In March 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of nine Democratic senators to sign a letter to Salman of Saudi Arabia requesting the release of human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair and writer Raif Badawi, women's rights activists Loujain al-Hathloul and Samar Badawi, and Dr Walid Fitaih.

Richard Blumenthal accused Saudi Arabia of undermining US efforts and helping to boost 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In January 2016, Richard Blumenthal was one of 18 senators to sign a letter to Thad Cochran and Barbara Mikulski requesting that the Labor, Health and Education subcommittee hold a hearing on whether to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund a study of gun violence and "the annual appropriations rider that some have interpreted as preventing it" with taxpayer dollars.

In October 2016, Richard Blumenthal participated in the Chris Murphy gun control filibuster, speaking in support of the Feinstein Amendment, which would have banned people known to be or suspected of being terrorists from buying guns.

In 2018, Richard Blumenthal was a cosponsor of the NICS Denial Notification Act, legislation developed in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that would require federal authorities to inform states within a day after a person failing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System attempted to buy a firearm.

In January 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of 40 senators to introduce the Background Check Expansion Act, a bill that would require background checks for either the sale or transfer of all firearms including all unlicensed sellers.

In June 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of four senators to cosponsor the Help Empower Americans to Respond Act, legislation that would ban suppressors being imported, sold, made, sent elsewhere or possessed and grant a silencer buyback program as well as include certain exceptions for current and former law enforcement personnel and others.

In June 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of eight senators to sponsor the Made in America Act, legislation that would mandate that federal programs that had funded infrastructure projects not currently subject to Buy America standards use domestically produced materials.

In July 2019, Richard Blumenthal cosponsored the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, a bill introduced by Ben Cardin and Rob Portman that would create a new memorial that would be privately funded and constructed on federal lands within Washington, DC, in order to honor journalists, photographers, and broadcasters who died in the line of duty.

In June 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of 18 senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting an explanation of a State Department decision not to issue an official statement that year commemorating Pride Month or the annual cable outlining activities for embassies commemorating Pride Month.

In May 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of six senators to cosponsor the Healthy MOMMIES Act, legislation that would expand Medicaid coverage in an attempt to provide comprehensive prenatal, labor and postpartum care with an extension of the Medicaid pregnancy pathway from 60 days to a full year following birth to assure new mothers access to services unrelated to pregnancy.

In June 2019, Richard Blumenthal was one of ten senators to cosponsor the Safe Freight Act, a bill that would mandate all freight trains have one or more certified conductors and one certified engineer on board who can collaborate on how to protect both the train and people living near the tracks.

Richard Blumenthal is the daughter of Peter L Malkin and maternal granddaughter of Lawrence Wien.

Richard Blumenthal's wealth exceeds $100 million, making him one of the richest members of the Senate.