AT&T Gave $500k to House Democrats Pushing The T-Mobile Takeover

If you had any doubt that money talks in politics, consider June 24’s development in the lobbying effort for AT&T’s proposed $39 billion buyout of T-Mobile.

Seventy-two Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the FCC and Justice Department praising the deal. Turns out, 66 of the more than 70 signatories received a combined half-million dollars in campaign contributions from the telecom giant in the most recent election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Most of the donations came from political action committees (PACs) associated with AT&T, which is the single-largest corporate donor to members of Congress over the last two decades. To get an idea of how widely AT&T spreads its money around the nation’s capitol, consider this: during the last election cycle, the company gave money to 391 of the 435 members of the House, and 78 of the 100 members of the Senate.