Open Secrets
Trump 2020 campaign used a shell company to pay ad buyers at the center of alleged illegal coordination scheme with NRA
The Trump campaign funneled money to ad buyers alleged to have facilitated illegal coordination between the campaign and the NRA by routing funds through a secretive LLC that appears to be little more than a shell company. While the Trump campaign stopped reporting payments to ad buyers alleged to have facilitated illegal coordination between the campaign and the NRA after the 2016 election cycle, Trump’s 2020 campaign has continued to deploy the same individuals working for the firms at the center of the contro
Vote correlation: Internet privacy resolution and telecom contributions
We took a look at the contributions received by members of the House and Senate from the telecommunication industry, Here’s what we found:
On the House side, while there wasn’t a huge difference in overall funds received by lawmakers voting for or against the privacy resolution, there was a gap in the Republican vote. GOP lawmakers who voted to quash the rule received an average of $138,000 from the industry over the course of their careers. The 15 Republicans voting nay? They got just $77,000. Some Democrats were quite popular targets for industry contributions. Rep Steny Hoyer (D-MD) of Maryland, for instance, who is the second-highest ranking Democrat in the House, has received more than $1.3 million from telecom interests in the course of his long career, more than all but two House members; he received almost $190,000 in the 2016 cycle alone. Still, he voted against the bill, as did Rep James Clyburn (D-SC) ($968,000 career), Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) ($864,000), and every other Democrat.