Corporations gave heaps of cash to GOP after vowing to punish them for Capitol riot

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who voted to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election, is in charge of his party’s effort to regain a majority in the Senate. Despite his attempts to throw out President Joe Biden’s electors, several corporate PACs gave tens of thousands last quarter to his group — including some PACs that pledged not to.

The National Republic Senatorial Committee, which Scott chairs, disclosed its finances on Tuesday for the first three months of 2021 to the Federal Election Commission. It reported receiving more than $750,000 in contributions from political action committees associated with corporations and trade associations.

According to research by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, several of those PACs had been critical of Scott and other Republican lawmakers who voted on Jan. 6 against accepting Biden’s victory. Some had promised to pause their PAC giving; others explicitly vowed to stop funding those legislators:

CVS

CVS Health said in January its future PAC donations were “under review based on the events of the past few weeks.” It gave $15,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee on March 30.

Home Depot

Home Depot released a Jan. 27 statement that it was “pausing to take time to carefully review and reevaluate each of the members who voted to object to the election results before considering further contributions to them.” On March 31, it sent $15,000.

Intel

Intel’s PAC gave the party committee $15,000 on March 2. According to Popular Information, the tech giant said in January that its political action committee “continuously reevaluates its contributions to candidates to ensure that they align with our values, policies and priorities,” and that “we will not contribute to members of Congress who voted against certification of the Electoral College results as we feel that action was counter to our company’s values.”

Oracle

National Republican Senatorial Committee received $3,750 from Oracle PAC on March 25. On Jan. 17, the company promised it would “pause contributions to anyone who voted against certifying the November 2020 election results.”

PG&E

Pacific Gas & Electric released a January statement, saying, “The lawlessness and mob violence we all witnessed last week is completely unacceptable,” and that it planned  listening sessions “to better understand our common positions and determine the best path forward.” Its PAC donated $15,000 on March 9.

Pfizer

“Pfizer PAC will not contribute to any of the 147 Members of Congress who voted against certifying the Electoral College results after the violence we all witnessed,” the company reportedly said in a January internal email. “After six months, we will review our decision.” The PAC gave $15,000 on March 2, less than two months later.

PNC Financial Services

PNC Financial Services Group sent $15,000 on March 24. They claimed in January that they had “suspended contributions to those members of Congress who voted against the certification of the nation’s valid Electoral College votes.”

Sanofi

Chemical & Engineering News reported in January that Sanofi and other pharmaceutical firms were cutting off donations to those who objected to the Electoral College count. The company PAC gave $15,000 on March 17.

After his actions in January, Scott faced calls to resign from his National Republican Senatorial Committee post. The editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel blasted him as “unfit for office” and one of “Florida’s enemies of democracy.”

But rather than hold him accountable as they promised, these eight corporations combined to give him at least $108,750 to support his efforts to elect a GOP Senate in 2022.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.