She says a foundation paid her.
ARMI’s tax returns say ARMI did.

What she said vs. what the records show

At the Oct. 6 NHPR debate, the moderator asked about the nearly $1 million she was paid and whether voters see it as nepotism. She repeated her claims at a Rotary talk on Oct. 8 and on WMUR's CloseUp on Oct. 18. Here are her answers, line by line, next to ARMI's own audited books and tax filings.

Six explanations in three years

Asked who paid her, the answer keeps shifting. Only the latest version names a foundation, and that foundation's own records show about half of what she claims.

• 2023
  Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, to APM Reports
  “She was being paid by ARMI, not by the government.”
• February 2026
  The senator's spokesperson, to Politico
  She “was paid through non-federal funding sources.”
• April 2026
  Stefany Shaheen, to The Dartmouth
  “I was never paid with federal funding. I raised philanthropic money.”
• Sept. 29, 2026
  Her campaign, to InDepthNH
  She “raised millions in philanthropic and private sector funding … and was paid from those funds.”
• Oct. 6, 2026
  Stefany Shaheen, NHPR debate
  “I was paid from a private foundation.”
• Oct. 18, 2026
  Stefany Shaheen, WMUR CloseUp
  “I was paid with money that we raised from private foundations … it was all disclosed, and made very clear.”

Where ARMI's money came from

ARMI is not a charity. It is a 501(c)(6) business league created to receive a Pentagon award. Its own audits show what came in, year by year.

Breakthrough T1D: $3.2 million, not $6 million

On WMUR she named one foundation, Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF). Its tax returns list every grant it makes. Here is everything it reported giving ARMI.

Her mother, the Senate, and ARMI's money

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has backed ARMI's federal funding from the day it was formed.

• July 2016
  ARMI is incorporated to win a Pentagon award
  The same month, Sen. Shaheen, a member of the Armed Services Committee, writes to the Defense Secretary backing ARMI's bid.
• December 2016
  The Pentagon awards it about $80 million
  Sen. Shaheen announces the award.
• 2018–2025
  ARMI pays Stefany Shaheen
  $921,731 through 2024, under the title "Chief Strategy Officer" in her own disclosures, while ARMI's tax filings call her a contractor.
• April 5, 2023
  Sen. Shaheen signs an earmark certification
  Requesting $1.2 million for ARMI in a bill from the subcommittee she chaired, she certifies “neither I nor my immediate family has a pecuniary interest.” ARMI paid her daughter $146,242 that year and $153,489 the next.
• 2023
  Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, at ARMI
  On a $44 million Commerce award to a Manchester coalition that includes ARMI: “I heard a lot from Sen. Shaheen, so maybe that had something to do with it.”