Judd Legum Profile picture
17 Apr, 13 tweets, 9 min read
1. Over the last 48 hours, I've reviewed FEC fillings from 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the election

It was the first major FEC deadline since the insurrection

I've analyzed the data & considered what it all means

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
2. BIG TAKEAWAY: nearly all the corporations who said they were suspending donations after January 6 have kept their word

There are exceptions, which we'll get to, but just a handful

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
3. The # of corporate PACs suspending donations to the 147 GOPers was MUCH LARGER than publicly announced

About 170 companies said they were suspending donations

But of 1100 corporate PACs that donated to this group last cycle, only 70 donated in Q1

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
4. Some high-profile objectors were able to replace the loss of PAC money with individual donations, but most were not

2/3 of the Republican objectors raised less in the first three months of 2021 than they did in the first three most of the last cycle

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
5. The biggest exception to the rule was @Toyota

After 1/6, Toyota said it was "assessing our future PAC criteria"

Toyota sent contributions totaling $62,000 to the campaigns of FORTY REPUBLICANS who voted to overturn the election results

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
@Toyota 6. Among the recipients of @Toyota's cash was @RepAndyBiggsAZ.

On January 6, Biggs tweeted that he would "lead the charge" and "fight" to overturn the election results. He also promised to "produce documents" during the debate with evidence of "fraud."

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
@Toyota @RepAndyBiggsAZ 7. @Toyota claims that it "decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions"

But if Biggs qualifies, who was excluded?

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
@Toyota @RepAndyBiggsAZ 8. Toyota also said it does "not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on election certification."

This language was taken word-for-word from a memo issued by the @USChamber in March

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
9. After 1/6, @USChamber said "There are some members who, by their actions will have forfeited the support of the US Chamber of Commerce. Period."

In the first 3 months of 2021, the Chamber gave to two Republicans who voted to overturn the election

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
10. Another major exception to the rule was @Cigna

After 1/6, Cigna said it would "discontinue support of any elected official who...hindered a peaceful transition of power

In Q1 of 2021, Cigna donated to 6 Republicans who voted to overturn the election

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
11. After 1/6 @JetBlue said it had made "the decision to temporarily pause all contributions as we review the political landscape."

In February JetBlue donated @repmalliotakis, who voted to overturn the election.

popular.info/p/what-we-lear…
12. Several companies pledged to suspend donations to the 147 Republicans and then donated to multi-candidate committees that support the objectors like the @NRSC, @NRCC, and @hcfpac.

This group includes @ATT, @Intel, and @Cigna.
13. And that's about it. There will be increasing pressure from corporate lobbyists for PACs to resume contributions to the 147 Republicans soon.

For updates and accountability journalism, sign up for the newsletter.

popular.info/subscribe

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Judd Legum

Judd Legum Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @JuddLegum

15 Apr
UPDATE: @pfizer pledged not to donate to any of the 147 Republican objectors for at least 6 months and then donated $2500 to @RepAdrianSmith, who voted against certification, on 3/17

Pfizer has ignored my inquires about the donation, but I've obtained an internal email w/answers
@pfizer @RepAdrianSmith 2. According to an email obtained by popular.info, @Pfizer says the $2500 donation in March to @RepAdrianSmith, who voted to overturn the election, was "made in error and has been cancelled"
3. There is still the issue of the leadership PAC of @MikeKellyPA, one of the 147 Republican objectors, who reported receiving a 2.5K donation from @Pfizer on 2/11

I'll let you know if I learn more

popular.info/subscribe
Read 4 tweets
15 Apr
1. Today is the most significant FEC deadline since the 1/6 insurrection.

We'll learn which corporations are keeping their promises and which are hoping people have stopped paying attention.

I'll be tracking the most significant filings in this thread.

Follow if interested.
2. @Toyota, which after 1/6 said it would be "assessing our future PAC criteria," donated $1,000 to @RepJeffDuncan, who voted to overturn the election results, on March 5.
3. This is the 6th member who voted to overturn the election that later received a donation from @Toyota:

@virginiafoxx (1K)
@CliffBentz (1K)
@RepAlexMooney (1K)
@RepBarryMoore (1K)
@RepChuck (2K)
@RepJeffDuncan (1K)
Read 72 tweets
14 Apr
1. Some of the nation's top climate leaders are participating in a virtual climate summit today - sponsored by Big Oil and Phillip Morris

The sponsors bought the right to be featured during the event

How did this happen?

@emorwee and I investigated

popular.info/p/top-climate-…
@emorwee 2. The event is being organized by @thehill.

White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and other climate luminaries are participating.

Sponsors include @APIenergy and @InsidePMI.

popular.info/p/top-climate-…
3. As part of their sponsorship package, @thehill sold API and Phillip Morris the right to present a "sponsors perspective" during various presentations.

When we asked one participant about the sponsors role, she told us she had decided to drop out.

popular.info/p/top-climate-…
Read 7 tweets
14 Apr
1. Hundreds of corporations have signed onto a new letter supporting "the right to vote" and opposing "discriminatory legislation" and I'm not impressed.

Here's why.
2. The statement does not address specific voter suppression bills that are under consideration in Texas, Arizona and elsewhere.

And the organizers of the letter made clear that there is no expectation that the signatories oppose any specific bills.
3. This is exactly what we saw in Georgia where a number of companies endorsed a broad statement in support of voting rights issued by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce but stayed silent on individual bills.

These kind of statements have no impact.
Read 7 tweets
13 Apr
1. There is no one with a more cynical approach to politics than @JDVance1

This will be a short thread.

Follow if interested.
@JDVance1 2. J.D. Vance is going to run for the U.S. Senate.

In preparation for that his friend and business partner, billionaire corporate executive Peter Theil, has donated $10 MILLION, to a Super PAC that supports his candidacy
3. Theil is the chairman of Palantir, on the board of Facebook, and runs a hedge fund.

Backed by this mountain of corporate cash, Vance has the audacity to present himself as someone who is prepared to take on the elite and corporate power

popular.info/p/the-hillbill…
Read 4 tweets
13 Apr
1. Corporations received a lot of positive press for holding a Zoom call discussing the possibility of action in support of voting rights but there is no time to waste.

Texas could approve new voter suppression bills any day.

popular.info/p/democracy-is…
2. Corporate America failed to act with focus and urgency in Georgia and many companies issued statements opposing new restrictions AFTER the bill was signed into law.

Will they repeat the same mistake in Texas?

popular.info/p/democracy-is…
3. One thing that is getting lost is that very few companies have spoken out specifically against the Texas bills, HB6 and SB7.

And none have said they will cut off funding to the sponsors of these bills.

popular.info/p/democracy-is…
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!