Let’s start at the top with President Trump, who egged on a crowd to go to the Capitol and “fight,” moments before they did just that. During the 2020 election, he was supported by two super PACs, America First Action and Preserve America PAC, according to Open Secrets. Preserve America PAC was primarily bankrolled by the late Sheldon Adelson — perhaps best known as the founder, chairman, and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Casino — who contributed $90 million.
Meanwhile, American First Action received significant donations from three related Florida sugar companies: $725,000 from Fanjul Corp (which sells the Florida Crystals brand of sugar), $450,000 from New Hope Sugar Co., and $450,000 from Osceola Farms. Vital Pharmaceuticals, which produces the Bang brand of energy drinks, gave American First Action $250,000 during the 2020 election cycle. Three other Florida agricultural firms — Agro-Industrial Management, Americas Export Corp, and Sem-Chi Rice Products — gave the super PAC $350,000, $350,000, and $250,000, respectively. America First Action also received a mysterious $1 million donation from “Deuterium Electron LLC,” which seems to have no other online presence.
During the 2018 election cycle, corporate-backed super PACs have also supported Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), who led objections in the Senate to the 2020 presidential election results. In a video of the insurrection released by the New Yorker, rioters invoked Cruz as wanting “us to do this.” Previously, Cruz was supported by the Texans Are super PAC. Contributions to this group included $250,000 from TRT Holdings, which owns Omni Hotels and Origins Behavioral Healthcare; $150,000 from Valero Energy; $90,000 from Jennmar, a coal mining supply company; and $50,000 from Holly Frontier, an oil refiner.
Hawley was infamously pictured giving a power salute to the rioters in real time on January 6. In 2018, he was supported by a small super PAC called CFG Action Missouri, which was bankrolled by Richard Uihlein, son of one of the founders of Schlitz beer, and who was once labeled by the New York Times as one-half of “the most powerful couple you’ve never heard of.” Additionally, Hawley was the beneficiary of huge Republican super PACs that supported multiple candidates.
In 2018, Hawley was also supported by the Senate Leadership Fund, which spent $196,842 in independent expenditures to support his campaign, and he was the beneficiary of $915,743 in coordinated expenditures from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. And the dark money group Americans for Prosperity spent nearly $4 million on ads attacking Hawley’s opponent, incumbent Claire McCaskill.
.....
= new reply since forum marked as read
