NEW: I dug into the top 50 political vendors (per @OpenSecretsDC) and found that over a dozen of them—including 2 of the top 5—cashed in on PPP loans.
Most of these companies have had tens of millions of dollars come their way this cycle.
My latest:
medium.com/@RobletoFire/t…
Buying Time LLC, ranked #2 of top political vendors, has had $222M pass through them this cycle ($430M+ since 2016), with $186M coming from Tom Steyer's Presidential committee.
They received a PPP loan worth up to $350,000
Rising Tide Interactive was another beneficiary of Steyer's run, with $77M of their $86M this cycle came from services related to his digital campaign.
Rising Tide was approved for a PPP loan for up to $1M, as was DSPolitical—another firm founded by RTI partner Eli Kaplan.
Aisle 518 Strategies was paid $39M+ this cycle for media services, with $25M coming from Bernie Sanders' campaign alone.
They received a PPP loan for up to $350,000.
Middle Seat Consulting, a digital media firm co-founded by Justice Democrats founder Zack Exely (though he has since left), made $16M this cycle consulting for progressive Democrats like Jamaal Bowman, Charles Booker, and AOC.
They got a PPP loan for up to $1M.
Blue Wave Political Partners, founded by Bernie Sanders' campaign treasurer Lora Haggard, also got a PPP loan for up to $350,000.
Blue Wave has been directly paid $3M this cycle, Haggard and her partner, Jay Petterson, are listed as treasurer on over 100 committees per the FEC.
Communications Corp of America has been paid $49M+ this cycle for direct-mail advertising—with $27M coming from the Republican National Committee, and $16M coming from President Trump's reelection campaign.
CCA still got the largest loan on the list, valued at up to $2M.
There are several more where that came from, detailed here, in my latest report.
The question remains: Is the PPP helping the small, at risk businesses it was intended to? Or is it being taken advantage of by corporate and political insiders?
medium.com/@RobletoFire/t…
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