Pennsylvania GOP Treasurer Courts Jan. 6 Pardoned Rioter and Convicted Fraudster at Mar-a-Lago Fundraiser

When you're down 22 points and getting outraised 15-to-1, apparently the move is to throw a party with convicted felons at Donald Trump's country club.

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity recently hosted a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago that reads like a greatest hits of MAGA criminality. Among the guests cheering her on: John Strand, a former underwear model who stormed the Capitol on January 6, and Adam Kidan, who did three years in federal prison for his role in the $147.5 million SunCruz Casinos fraud scheme alongside disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

This is Garrity's strategy for closing a massive gap against Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro in November's gubernatorial race. And it tells you everything you need to know about where the Pennsylvania GOP is placing its bets.

The Jan. 6 Pardoned Profiteer

John Strand wasn't just at the Capitol riot—he had VIP access to Trump's Ellipse rally beforehand and marched straight to the building with the crowd. He was convicted in 2022 and faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Instead, he got 32 months and a $10,000 fine before Trump wiped his record clean with a pardon.

Strand posted gleefully about the Garrity fundraiser on Instagram: "Great to see Stacy Garrity (candidate for PA governor) and Catalina Stubbe (FL rep of Moms for Liberty) at Mar-a-lago. We have so many patriotic conservative women in the ranks for our fight to reconquer America."

"Reconquer America." That's the language of insurrection dressed up as patriotism.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Strand served as spokesperson and creative director for America's Frontline Doctors, the anti-vaccine group founded by his girlfriend Simone Gold. The organization made millions peddling hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as miracle cures while Americans died by the hundreds of thousands. Gold herself was also convicted for her role in the Capitol attack.

So Strand's resume includes: insurrectionist, COVID profiteer, and now Garrity fundraiser guest of honor.

The Abramoff Associate Who Never Paid His Victims

Then there's Adam Kidan, who spent about three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in the SunCruz Casinos scandal. That scheme, orchestrated with Jack Abramoff—one of the most corrupt lobbyists in modern American history—defrauded lenders and investors out of $147.5 million.

Video from Garrity's social media shows Kidan enthusiastically cheering for Trump and Garrity at the Mar-a-Lago event.

Here's the kicker: Kidan was ordered to pay $21.7 million in restitution to his victims. According to Florida Bulldog, he's been living large ever since—buying and selling houses and office buildings, donating to Republican candidates. The Miami U.S. Attorney's Office wouldn't tell reporters how much restitution he's actually paid or how much he still owes.

The federal government placed a lien on Kidan's Lancaster County, Pennsylvania residence in 2018. He's a convicted fraudster who hasn't made his victims whole, and he's helping bankroll Garrity's campaign.

Spotlight PA reported last August that Garrity is counting on Kidan's donations and his connections to Trump and other major Republican donors to fuel her uphill campaign.

The Fundraising Reality

Garrity needs all the help she can get. Recent polling shows Shapiro up by 22 percentage points. In 2025 alone, Shapiro has outraised Garrity 15-to-1. Those are devastating numbers for any challenger, let alone one running in a state Trump narrowly lost in 2020.

So Garrity is doing what desperate Republican candidates do in the Trump era: she's going all-in on MAGA. That means Mar-a-Lago fundraisers. That means embracing pardoned insurrectionists. That means cozying up to convicted fraudsters who still owe millions to their victims.

It's a strategy that might play well with the Republican base that decides primaries, but it's a harder sell in a general election—especially in Pennsylvania, a purple state where suburban voters have been fleeing Trumpism for years.

What This Says About the Pennsylvania GOP

Garrity's fundraiser guest list isn't an accident or an oversight. This is a deliberate choice. She's signaling to Trump's inner circle that she's all in, that she'll embrace anyone and anything if it means access to MAGA money and endorsements.

The Pennsylvania Republican Party has fully committed to the Trump cult of personality, even when it means standing next to people who attacked the Capitol, profited off a deadly pandemic, and defrauded victims out of millions.

Garrity's campaign did not respond to requests for comment about the fundraiser or her associations with Strand and Kidan.

That silence speaks volumes. When your fundraiser features a pardoned insurrectionist and a convicted fraudster, and you have nothing to say about it, you've already told voters everything they need to know about your judgment and your values.

Stacy Garrity is betting her political future on the dregs of MAGA world. Pennsylvania voters will decide in November whether that bet pays off.