I got that invitation above the other day and said to myself, "self, didn't Katie Hill say she wasn't going to take PAC money?" Maybe not; maybe I was thinking of almost every other freshman. Or maybe there was some Philadelphia lawyer language in the statement about not taking-- let alone soliciting-- which this invitation clearly is. So I tweeted it. A top Hill chief of staff write to me immediately: "I saw your tweet. I have been meaning to message you that one of the consultants for a couple of the candidates mentioned to me that a lot of the freshmen will ignore their prior pledge. Some will do it directly and hope no one notices. Others will establish 'leadership' PACs, which will allow them to say that their campaign isn’t funded by PACs even though they are still raising corporate funds and creating the same conflicts. Leadership PACs can be used to offset campaign expenses (consultants), pay for things like trips to Puerto Rico and pay DCCC dues, which can be high depending on Committee even for freshmen. It functionally operates as a slush fund to pay for things not directly campaign-related but it’s a b-s way to technically keep the pledge."Watch for [redacted] to skip out on his PAC money pledge at some point this year. His team knows that local press won’t cover this.He later sent me another e-mail: "The leadership PAC loophole is arguably the least discussed and I was a bit surprised that its being pitched as an option. It's deep in the weeds of corporate influence and has much less scrutiny than campaign accounts."Did you see that Gillibrand fluff-session with Maddow Wednesday night? Just as Maddow was going to sign off, Gillibrand quickly rapidly out: "Together any of that done, you've got to take on the corruption in Washington because there are so many systems of power in place today that make it impossible to do what's right. Bills are written in the dead of night by lobbyists; bills are written by the special interests. There's so much corruption; there's so much money and greed... That's why I'm banning corporate PAC money; that's why I'm banning lobbyist money; it's why I don't think individuals should have SuperPACs. Because my vote is not for sale. Because many character, my integrity is not for sale."Kirsten Gillibrand's vote has always been for sale-- as for her character, her integrity... give me a break. In 2012 Gillibrand started a leadership PAC-- Off the Sidelines-- to help her power power in Congress. In 2014 she raised $4,194,331 for the leadership PAC. The biggest donors were executives and/or corporate PACs from Akin, Gump (a top DC lobbying firm); Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (the law firm representing Chevron in its long-running, defending Dole Food in a multibillion-dollar toxic tort suit in Nicaragua involving allegations of farmworker sterility stemming from Dole's use of toxic pesticides, a $27 billion environmental dispute with Ecuador, Mark Zuckerberg, Apple, WalMart, Intel, NBC-- vs Conan O'Brien); Goldman Sachs; Morgan Stanley; New York Life; Comcast; Bank of America...Of the $4,194,331 she raised, $488,500 went to candidates, mostly conservative Democrats. And the rest of the money? Like all political scams, most of it went to build a Gillibrand political empire. She raised $2,185,123 in the 2016 cycle and $838,352 in the 2018 cycle.These are the 10 most corrupt current members of the Senate and how much they've taken from the Finance Sector since they were first raising money for federal elections-- 10 crooks who all belong in prison:
• Mitt Romney (mostly as a presidential candidate)- $81,752,591• Chuck Schumer- $26,908,729• Marco Rubio (much as a presidential candidate)- $13,721,378• Mitch McConnell- $12,932,658• Ted Cruz (much as a presidential candidate)- $11,193,833• Rob Portman- $10,964,333• Kirsten Gillibrand- $9,950,951• Pat Toomey- $9,771,995• Robert Menendez- $9,475,813• John Cornyn- $9,368,994
Raymond Arke, writing for Open Secrets, wrote this week that "Gillibrand said she has received 'grassroots donations' from all 50 states, saying that the campaign won’t be run by corporate PACs.
As a member of Congress, Gillibrand has been a powerful and prolific fundraising force. From 2013 to 2018, she raised more than $20 million, almost 60 percent of which came from large individual contributions. Much of the money her campaign raised was left unspent, leaving her with around $10.5 million to use on a presidential run.Her two largest contributors in 2018 were individuals from law firms she previously practiced for, Davis, Polk & Wardwell and Boies, Schiller & Flexner. The founding partner of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, David Boies, represented Harvey Weinstein and hired an Israeli private investigation firm to intimidate Weinstein accusers and prevent publication of investigations into the claims. Both are international law firms which have offices in New York City and Washington D.C., among other locations.In February 2018, Gillibrand announced that she would no longer accept corporate PAC money, a decision that joins the ranks of every other announced 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. Prior to that decision, PACs donated more than $831,000 to Gillibrand in the 2018 election cycle. The vast majority of that, around 60.4 percent, came from business PACs. The business PACs which gave the most to her leadership PAC and campaign combined were Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company ($32,000), UBS Ag ($30,000), National Multifamily Housing Council ($30,000) and National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ($30,000).One potential source of controversy in a crowded Democratic field is her close relationship with Wall Street. She reportedly reached out to financial executives to gauge support of a White House run earlier this month.A significant portion of the money Gillibrand has fundraised has come from the securities and investment industry, most of which are Wall Street firms. In the 2018 cycle, Gillibrand received more than $1.84 million from individuals and PACs combined within the industry. The securities and investment PACs which gave the most to her reelection campaign were Bank of New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank Securities, TIAA and UBS Americas. Corporate PACs from the insurance industry were also major donors in the 2018 cycle. Marsh & McLennan and New York Life Insurance PACs both gave contributions to Gillibrand’s campaign totaling $10,000. Liberty Mutual Insurance contributed $5,200 to Gillibrand and Aon Corp gave $5,000.Gillibrand’s leadership PAC, Empire PAC [she has 2], received a significant amount of money from corporate PACs in 2018. Companies like UBS, Northrop Grumman, New York Life Insurance and others all contributed to her leadership PAC, which raised $72,500 in the 2018 cycle.
Democrats are in a tough position. The grassroots overwhelmingly demands campaign finance reform. Candidates largely agree and make all kinds of pledges. But when they get into office and they're start looking at the next election... what they see as unilateral disarmament is a step too far for most of them. It's a question of character and there's no doubt Gillibrand is weak there. It will be interesting watching how others handle this, especially the freshmen who so recently pledged not to take any corporate money. Which brings up one more thing. Take money from Hoyer or his PAC and you're taking corporate money and lobbyist money. Take a contribution from, say, Wasserman Schultz and her PAC and you're taking money from Big Sugar, private prisons, payday lenders, the worst Wall Street crooks... Gillibrand has taken $1,008,944 from lobbyists since 2006. And now that she's "seen the light?" Last year she only took $105,032. In the House, among those still serving, the members who took the most-- over $100,000-- from lobbyists last year were, in other words, those willing to sell their asses:
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $323,625• Greg Walden (R-OR)- $273,730• Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $234,555• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)- $200,150• Kevin Brady (R-TX)- $183,475• George Holding (R-NC)- $162,099• Devin Nunes (R-CA)- $138,379• Richard Neal (D-MA)- $135,936• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $121,235• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)- $116,999• Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)- $112,390• Vern Buchanan (R-FL)- $107,330• Steny Hoyer (D-MD)- $107,000• Will Hurd (R-TX)- $105,867• Garrett Graves (R-LA)- $102,700• Frank Pallone (D-NJ)- $101,194
And what about the non-incumbents who are now freshmen? Did lobbyists start buying up any? Of course. These were the half dozen non-incumbent candidates, now serving, who took the most from lobbyists... men and women we're going to have to watch out for this year:
• Donna Shalala (D-FL)- $71,400• Jennifer Wexton (New Dem-VA)- $63,346• Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)- $60,521• Steven Horsford (D-NV)- $50,851• Joseph Morelle (D-NY)- $48,150• Troy Balderson (R-OH)- $46,749
One more category of politician who took money from lobbyists in the 2018 cycle: Congress members likely running for president. Who's already selling out to the worst of the worst, even before the presidential race has officially begun? (Not Elizabeth Warren, not Kamala, not Delaney, who is independently wealthy, no Tulsi and not Bernie.)
• Bob Casey (D-PA)- $550,514• Sherrod Brown (D-OH)- $284,511• Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)- $177,635• Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)- $105,032• Beto (New Dem-TX)- $82,367• Cory Booker (D-NJ)- $58,530• Jeff Merkley (D-OR)- $43,820• Eric Swalwell (D-CA)- $34,610• Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)- $22,481• Kamala Harris (D-CA)- $4,062• John Delaney (New Dem-MD)- $3,950• Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)- $1,500• Bernie (I-VT)- $197
