(Bloomberg) — Some of the biggest technology and telecom companies jettisoned pledges made in the wake of the US Capitol assault and gave money to reelect lawmakers who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory, according to filings reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Powell Says Fed Still Has a ‘Ways to Go’ After Half-Point Hike
Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws
In 60 Seconds Before CPI Hit, Heavy Trading Drove Mystery Rally
Is Putin Finally Getting Smart About His Ukraine Disaster?
Musk Loses World’s Richest Title to Arnault With Tesla Unwinding
The companies expressed horror after supporters of then-President Donald Trump went on a rampage Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to halt Biden’s certification. Citing the need to defend democracy, the firms said they would suspend campaign donations to the 147 Republicans who voted against certifying the presidential election results that day.
In some cases those suspensions only lasted a few months, according to the Bloomberg News review of hundreds of campaign finance disclosures covering the period from March 2021 to last month. Major companies including AT&T Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Intel Corp. quietly reopened the taps in time to help the GOP win control of the House of Representatives.
Other industries also resumed giving when it became clear Republicans were poised to retake the House — a tacit acknowledgment that election denial is still a powerful force in the party. But the Bloomberg News review revealed that the technology and telecom sectors were especially generous, contributing $1.3 million in total. And they targeted lawmakers overseeing a potentially hostile congressional agenda likely to include hearings on the treatment of conservative viewpoints on social media, among other topics.
The biggest giver in the tech and telecom sectors was AT&T. The No. 3 wireless carrier vowed on Jan. 11, 2021, to “suspend contributions to members of Congress who voted to object to the certification of electoral college votes.”
In the months leading up to last month’s midterm elections, the company gave more than $608,900 to dozens of the objectors, documents show. That includes Representatives Burgess Owens of Utah, who said he has “no doubt” that Trump won; New York’s Nicole Malliotakis, who claimed the election was rife with “irregularities and alleged fraud”; and Florida’s Greg Steube, who called the election results “sketchy.”
AT&T declined to comment on its giving.
Jeremy Funk, spokesman for government watchdog group Accountable.US, said the companies are “choosing to chase after influence, even though a number of them have made bold declarations to their customer base and their shareholders and their own employees about how much they support democracy.”
Comcast Corp. said in a statement in January of last year that “the peaceful transition of power is a foundation of America’s democracy.” It vowed to “suspend all of our political contributions to those elected officials who voted against certification of the electoral college votes.”
By the end of the 2021, the Philadelphia-based cable giant had not only resumed giving to those candidates, but increased its contributions throughout 2022 to $365,500, becoming the second-biggest donor to election deniers among the tech and telecom firms.
Comcast didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Industries Facing Congressional Scrutiny
One reason for the reversals is the companies have a lot to gain or lose in a GOP-led House.
Republicans have already signaled they intend to target social media companies and their treatment of conservative viewpoints in the first 100 days of taking the majority next month. Other blockbuster issues the companies are nervously watching include net neutrality, antitrust and online privacy.
Conversely, telecom companies and semiconductor makers want more government aid for programs to boost broadband rollout and domestic manufacturing. That requires developing relationships with newly empowered Republicans.
Intel donated to 29 members who voted against Biden’s certification. The contributions came even as Intel Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger made appearances with Biden at the White House and was a guest at his State of the Union address.
Intel is set to receive a windfall of cash from the government after Biden signed legislation granting $53 billion to boost domestic semiconductor research and development.
Intel, in a statement, said it strives for a balance between donations to Democrats and Republicans “to build a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress who share our vision for strengthening America’s semiconductor industry, innovation capabilities and technological leadership.”
“Intel’s Political Action Committee continuously evaluates its contributions to ensure that they align with our values, policies and priorities. Over the past year, we have implemented additional due diligence processes as Intel resumed contributions that were previously halted,” the company said.
Key Lawmakers in Leadership Targeted
The companies aimed their donations strategically.
Among the big recipients: Kevin McCarthy of California, who is running to be speaker in January, and Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise, who will serve as House majority leader and sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Both men voted against certifying Biden’s victory.
McCarthy collected thousands of dollars from companies including Verizon Communications Inc., Dish Network Corp., Intel and Comcast.
Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan is expected to take the top spot on the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees tech issues including antitrust and patent reform. He voted against Biden’s certification but got money from Verizon and Oracle Corp., both of which had pledged to suspend those gifts and declined to comment on the reversals.
Comcast gave to several lawmakers who serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees telecom issues and will likely pursue a deregulatory agenda under GOP leadership. Among them: Indiana Representative Greg Pence and Pennsylvania Representative Mike Kelly, both of whom voted against certification of Biden’s win. Kelly filed lawsuits seeking to throw out all of Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballots.
Some Companies Gave Even While Sticking to Pledge
Other companies, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp., stuck to pledges not to contribute to the 147, but backed other candidates who cast doubt on the election in court filings, debates, campaign rallies and interviews.
Google, Dell Technologies Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Microsoft and other tech companies showered $90,000 on Washington’s Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is set to become the chair of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, where she will help lead the GOP’s tech and telecom agenda. McMorris Rodgers didn’t vote against certifying Biden’s win, but she supported the Texas lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the election.
Amazon contributed $135,500 to election deniers, including $17,500 to lawmakers who voted against certification.
Amazon said its pause lasted long enough. “When we announced shortly after the attack on the Capitol in January 2021 that we would suspend donations to members of Congress who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 US presidential election, it was not intended to be permanent,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “It’s been more than 21 months since that suspension and, like a number of companies, we’ve resumed giving to some members.”
Microsoft gave roughly $95,000 to lawmakers who expressed doubt about the 2020 election results, but didn’t vote against certification in accordance with its pledge. The company said it hasn’t decided how much longer to keep that ban in place.
“It’s a really good question — we’ll have to sit down and decide as we get to January,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in an interview. “I hope that we’ll see politicians as they look to the future and future elections sign up for the proposition that if they come up short in the votes, they will concede in the election.”
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
AmEx Hooked Big Spenders and Regained the Throne With a Pricier Platinum Card
Elon Musk’s Twitter Is a Shakespearean Psychodrama Set in Silicon Valley
TikTok’s Problem Child Has 7 Million Followers and One Proud Mom
Long Covid’s Effects Go Beyond Respiratory Issues
The FUD Behind the Crypto Collapse
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Related Quotes
Tech industry group NetChoice on Wednesday sued California over a kids’ online safety law, arguing the measure that aims to ramp up privacy protections for minors online would “hobble” free speech. NetChoice, which names tech giants Google and Meta among its members, said in a complaint the California Age Appropriate Design Code would “harm” rather…
(Bloomberg) — A Bill Gates-backed mining start-up agreed to invest $150 million in a Zambian project that will use artificial intelligence to explore for copper, a metal key to the green-energy transition.Most Read from BloombergApple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU LawsIn 60 Seconds Before CPI Hit, Heavy Trading Drove Mystery RallyMusk Loses World’s Richest Title to Arnault With Tesla UnwindingWho Is Bernard Arnault, the World’s Richest Person?Is Putin Finally Getting Sma
AT&T stock pays out a 5.8% dividend and has been trading much better lately. Here's how to approach it now.
In the latest trading session, Simon Property (SPG) closed at $120.24, marking a +1.37% move from the previous day.
(Bloomberg) — Oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA plunged on Wednesday after Brazilian lawmakers approved changes to a law that offers some protection against political interference at state-controlled companies.Most Read from BloombergPowell Says Fed Still Has a ‘Ways to Go’ After Half-Point HikeApple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU LawsIn 60 Seconds Before CPI Hit, Heavy Trading Drove Mystery RallyIs Putin Finally Getting Smart About His Ukraine Disaster?Musk Loses World
While we wait for the outcome of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting, we're also keeping our eyes on a potentially positive development in Washington, DC pertaining to our shares of Two rated Lockheed Martin . According to The Wall Street Journal, following months of Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's power grid, cities, and civilian infrastructure, the U.S is finalizing plans to provide Ukraine with its Patriot missile-defense systems. A Patriot missile battery of eight launchers takes as many as 90 soldiers to run, including maintenance crews, transporters, and radar operators, according to the U.S. Army.
(Bloomberg) — Chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve is not close to ending its anti-inflation campaign of interest-rate increases as officials signaled borrowing costs will head higher than investors expect next year.Most Read from BloombergPowell Says Fed Still Has a ‘Ways to Go’ After Half-Point HikeApple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU LawsIn 60 Seconds Before CPI Hit, Heavy Trading Drove Mystery RallyIs Putin Finally Getting Smart About His Ukraine Disaster?Musk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Reserve will deliver more interest rate hikes next year even as the economy slips towards a possible recession, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, arguing that a higher cost would be paid if the U.S. central bank does not get a firmer grip on inflation. Recent signs of slowing inflation have not brought any confidence yet that the fight has been won, Powell told reporters after the Fed's policy-setting committee raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point and projected it would continue rising to above 5% in 2023, a level not seen since a steep economic downturn in 2007. Those rises in borrowing costs would come despite an economy that Fed officials projected will operate at near stall speed through next year, with an annual growth rate of 0.5% and an unemployment rate nearly a full percentage point higher by the end of 2023, well beyond the increase historically associated with a recession.
The stock market lost ground on Wednesday, and all of the decline came after the Federal Reserve released its latest decision on monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) had all been seeing sizable gains on the day coming into the early afternoon, but by the end of the trading session, all three were down, albeit by less than 1%. For the most part, the Fed decision went largely as the majority of investors had expected.
The Senior Citizen’s League says there ‘may be no COLA payable in 2024.'
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who chairs the chamber's energy panel, asked the Treasury Department on Tuesday not to allow a commercial electric vehicle tax credit to be used for consumer leasing, rental cars or ridesharing vehicle sales, rejecting a broad interpretation of the credit. Reuters first reported last week the push by South Korea and some automakers that asked the Treasury Department to allow use of the commercial electric vehicle tax credit to boost consumer EV access as well as for the purchase of ride share and rental car vehicles. The $430 billion U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in August ended $7,500 consumer tax credits for electric vehicles assembled outside North America, angering South Korea, the European Union, Japan and others.
GettyIt wasn’t too long ago that the Kremlin declared 2022 a “year of unity” in the country, a sentiment that quickly fell apart as Vladimir Putin’s closest allies created their own circular firing squad over the country’s handling of the war against Ukraine.Now, that infighting has peaked in spectacular and hilarious fashion, as one of the Kremlin’s most rabid mouthpieces has been challenged to a duel by one of the Kremlin’s most notorious accused terrorists.The duel, of course, will not involv
(Reuters) -Prisoners faced rodents and a lack of toilets in the Bahamas detention center where Sam Bankman-Fried will be held, according to a 2021 U.S. State Department report, though local authorities says conditions have since improved. The 30-year-old Bankman-Fried arrived at a Bahamas court on Tuesday for his first in-person public appearance since the spectacular collapse of cryptocurrency exchange he founded. He did not waive a hearing on his extradition to the United States to face charges of misappropriating funds and violating campaign laws, apparently in hopes of obtaining bail, but was instead remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until Feb. 8 by Chief Magistrate JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, leading a central bank faced with the swiftest rise in consumer prices in decades, ruled out on Wednesday any change in the central bank's inflation goal. Powell, speaking at a press conference following a Federal Open Market Committee meeting where the officials lifted their overnight target rate by half a percentage point, was asked whether the Fed might consider moving its 2% inflation target up to a higher level. The Fed adopted its 2% inflation target in 2012 amid a similar push by other major central banks, believing that it best defined price stability, which it is legally mandated to achieve.
Yahoo Finance Live examines Meta shares while lawmakers propose bill to ban TikTok and how that could impact or favor the Facebook parent company.
The U.S. central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to a range of 4.25%-4.5% on Wednesday. Officials now expect the current rate-hiking cycle to peak next year at a "terminal rate" above 5%.
The Fed's closely-tracked 'dot plot' projections see rate hikes peaking at 5.1% in the spring, and staying there until the end of 2023.
The Italian parliament should have a proper and wide-ranging debate on the euro zone bailout fund before deciding whether to ratify its reformed treaty, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday. Italy appears set to be the last holdout on the issue, after Germany's constitutional court last week rejected an appeal that could have halted Berlin's ratification of the new arrangements for the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). "We are aware of the commitment undertaken by Italy and that at present all the other participants have proceeded with the ratification, but … there is a clear need for a proper and broad debate in parliament before deciding whether or not to ratify the treaty," Giorgetti said in parliament.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany got the go-ahead to buy F-35 fighter jets produced by U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin as part of military procurement projects worth 13 billion euros ($13.85 billion), Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Wednesday. The German parliament's budget committee approved the spending, including 10 billion euros for the F-35 jets as well as funds for the purchase of encrypted digital radios and assault rifles. These projects are among the first to tap money from a 100 billion euro ($106 billion) special fund that Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in a major policy shift days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.
The attorneys general of California, Illinois and Washington D.C., on Tuesday said they would appeal a federal court's refusal to temporarily prevent Albertsons Companies Inc, which is being purchased by rival Kroger Co, from paying a $4 billion dividend to shareholders. Consumer advocates say Albertsons, which owns such grocery brands as Safeway and Star Market, should be use the money to continue to compete against Kroger and that the payout harms grocery consumers and workers. Kroger in mid-October announced that it was snapping up Albertsons in a $25 billion deal between the No. 1 and 2 standalone grocers, saying that the combined company would better compete against U.S. grocery industry leader Walmart Inc on prices.