Big campaign spenders have federal stakes
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WASHINGTON -- The millionaires, billionaires and companies giving big sums to political committees supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Barack Obama have important business with the next president.
Some are already in trouble with the government. Some are pressing for new laws or regulations that would benefit their interests in energy, mining and high finance.
The Associated Press reviewed financial reports, regulatory filings, court records, public statements and more to identify favors that the biggest donors so far in the presidential campaign might want in return for their contributions worth $100,000 or more. In some cases, these donors have given $1 million or more to help Mr. Obama or his challengers.
An exhaustive review of their motives is nearly impossible, since new federal rules governing such contributions allow donors to effectively remain anonymous if they funnel cash into the campaign through corporate partnerships or other mechanisms that can frustrate investigation.
The presidential campaigns all have said they do not trade political favors for election money.
Among AP's findings:
• An energy firm run by William Koch, a $1 million donor to the pro-Romney political committee, paid to lobby Congress about mining and safety issues and also a proposed federal land swap that would enlarge the donor's Colorado ranch.
• The casino company run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, whose family has given $11 million to a political committee that supports Mr. Gingrich, has acknowledged that it's under federal investigation by the Justice Department and a civil probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Mr. Adelson's family has provided nearly all the money the pro-Gingrich group has received so far.
• A hedge fund run by New York investor Paul Singer, who gave the pro-Romney group $1 million, has pushed for federal laws that would give official U.S. backing to the firm's legal efforts to profit from the debt of distressed and Third World nations.
• A board member and former chairman of a prestigious Los Angeles hospital, John C. Law with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, has given the pro-Obama committee $100,000 as the hospital has lobbied Mr. Obama's administration over Medicare and Medicaid funding for teaching hospitals and electronic medical records, the National Institutes of Health and Army research programs.
First Published February 4, 2012 12:00 am
