In the month of June, as the House January 6 committee revealed alarming new details on former President Donald Trump’s coup attempt, corporate trade groups and Fortune 500 companies donated more than $819,000 to the Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
That’s according to a new analysisThis information is available Common DreamsAccountable.US, the watchdog organization that monitors government and business affairs, was tracking corporate contributions to the so-called “Sedition Caucus” — the group of 147 Republican lawmakersJust hours after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2016, the people voted to reverse the 2020 election to help Trump retain his power.
Accountable.US shows that, since January 6, 2021 corporate trade organizations and the top individual companies’ political action committees have donated $21.5 million to Sedition Caucus members such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R.Calif.) and Rep. Steve Scalise.), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
These three lawmakers are among 23 GOP members who will join Trump at the America First Policy Institute Agenda Summit this week. The summit is being hosted by a think tank that is aligned to the former president. Trump will deliver Tuesday’s keynote address at the Washington, D.C. summit. billedAs the former president prepares for another term, this is an attempt to outline a right-wing agenda.
Since January 2021, McCarthy and Scalise have been top recipients of corporate donations. They have received $617,500 and $701,000 respectively from corporate interests. made a show of condemningThe January 6th attack and voicing support to the democratic process
“The more the January 6th committee details how close we came to losing our democracy, the more corporations owe an explanation as to why they keep funding Donald Trump’s pawns in Congress who tried to finish what the insurrectionists started by voting to throw out the 2020 election results,” said Kyle Herrig, the president of Accountable.US.
The group’s updated donation tracker shows that the National Beer Wholesalers Association Political Action Committee, the American Bankers Association PAC, Home Depot’s PAC, the National Automobile Dealers Association Political Action Committee, and Boeing’s PAC have been the top contributors to seditious Republicans since the January 6 attack.
In the month of June, the top donors were the National Cotton Council of America Committee For The Advancement of Cotton, Regions Financial, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Political Action Committee, Charter Communications, and Verizon Communications.
There are several PACs, including those of the Snack Food Association Political Action Committee or the National Air Transportation Association Political Action Committee.
Committee, donated to Republican election objectors for the first time since the insurrection after the House January 6 panel’s series of public hearings began last month, according to Accountable.US’ review of campaign finance disclosures.
“Companies that claim to support democracy but fail to align their political spending with their stated values need to make it clear to their customers, shareholders, and own employees that they value something much more — having political influence over lawmakers no matter how dangerous their views,” said Herrig.
“Companies that dismiss the majority of Americans who want to see businesses more engaged in the defense of democracy,” Herrig added, “do so at the risk of their reputation.”
