Trump advisers on reopening economy gave half-billion to Republican efforts since 2015
The White House published a list of executives this week dubbed “Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups” who will be asked to join conference calls with the president on how to reopen the economy. The list includes dozens of Trump donors and several major benefactors to Republican candidates.
Members of the new task force and their spouses gave a combined $467 million to Republican candidates and conservative groups since the 2016 election cycle, according to contribution data from OpenSecrets. Together they’ve given tens of millions to Trump’s joint fundraising committee and millions more to pro-Trump super PACs.
Trump’s advisers gave a total of $8.3 million to Democratic candidates and causes since the 2016 cycle compared to $467 million to Republicans. Jon Gray, an executive at Blackstone Group, and his wife Mindy, are among the few Democratic donors. Only 21 names on Trump’s list have not made a political contribution. The list does include some individuals who have clashed with Trump in recent years, such as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
It is unclear how the White House decided on who to include. Some members of the task force didn’t know they would be asked to join until their names were published on the White House website. By organizing the group of industry leaders the way it did, the White House skirted transparency rules, Politico reported.
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/04/trump-advisers-on-economy-gave-to-republican/