Yes, that really is Kyrsten Sinema selling designer clothes and bike gear on Facebook

Slate on Thursday published a story speculating that U.S. Sen Kyrsten Sinema is padding her income and decluttering her D.C. apartment by reselling designer clothing and athletic gear on Facebook Marketplace. 

The story stopped short of definitively saying that the senator, who is one of the two most pivotal votes in the entire U.S. Senate, is behind the account selling stylish clothes, athletic apparel and bicycling equipment. But because reporter Christina Cauterucci couldn’t get confirmation from Sinema’s office that the “Kyrsten Sinema” Facebook account selling the goods is in fact run by the real senator, she had to couch the descriptions.

“It is 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, and I am exchanging Facebook messages with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema about a lightly used pair of Badgley Mischka heels. At least, I think it’s Kyrsten Sinema,” Cauterucci wrote, before noting that the Facebook profile includes Sinema’s photo, claims she lives in Phoenix and that the pair’s only mutual friend is a former Democratic National Committee staffer.

The closest Cauterucci came to getting confirmation from Sinema’s spokesperson, who she was “perplexed” by the interest in the Facebook Marketplace sales, were inquiries about the story’s purpose: “Kyrsten’s athletic hobbies? The fact that many Ironman / triathlete competitors resale gear?”

I can confirm what Cauterucci was unable to: All of the items she featured in her Slate story were sold by Arizona’s newly independent senator.

I covered Sinema day in and day out in the Arizona House of Representatives for six years when I was a reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times, and then oversaw coverage of her as an editor after she moved from the state Senate and then to Congress. 

An unfortunate reality of the job, particularly back in the mid- to late-aughts, when Facebook was becoming ubiquitous, was monitoring Facebook to mine for potential stories. But because of that, I’ve been Facebook friends with Sinema on her personal account since that time.

And as a result, I can see that the Kyrsten Sinema selling a $3,500 road bike frame is the same one I’ve been Facebook friends with for some 15 or so years, and the one with whom I share 143 friends — almost all of whom are from the world of Arizona politics and government.

Likewise, Sinema’s personal account is the one that posted every piece of clothing and equipment Cauterucci linked to in her story. In all, she’s listed 84 items on Facebook Marketplace.

So, while Cauterucci was robbed of confirming it was really Sinema who sold her designer heels on Facebook, she can rest easy knowing that, yes, it was one of the most powerful people in the U.S. Senate she was trading messages with on Facebook.