During the 2020 presidential campaign trail, then-California senator Kamala Harris made a promise to voters, despite her dismal 10% polling against Joe Biden’s 30% in the Democratic primary.
The soon-to-be vice president to President Joe Biden, Harris, sent supporters an email in February 2019 that stated, “Our campaign is not collecting a dollar from corporate PACs or lobbyists— and that was a very conscious choice.” “Yes, it does imply that we are throwing money away. However, I’m cool with that.
On the other hand, Senate lobbying disclosures and campaign finance reports paint a different picture. During the 2020 election, Harris took contributions from corporate PACs and lobbyists through her then-presidential campaign and other groups. Records indicate that corporate-funded PACs and K Street are once again supporting Harris, the presumed Democratic presidential contender, as she takes over the tens of millions of dollars in Biden’s war chest after the latter decided not to seek reelection.
As there are so many ways for money to influence elections these days, Craig Holman, an ethics advocate for the left-leaning Public Citizen think tank, said, “It’s not a very strong guarantee.”
“I hope that everyone will swear not to accept funding from lobbyists and corporations. However, elections will still take place, according to Holman, who also said that the Citizens United v. FEC decision from the Supreme Court in 2010 “opened up the floodgates” for special interests to fund political campaigns.
Republicans have been accusing Harris of lying about the elderly president’s health since Biden’s revelation on Sunday, and Harris’s willingness to accept the funds will probably expose her to accusations of hypocrisy. After withdrawing from the 2024 campaign, Biden has only made a few appearances in public. On Wednesday night, he will give an address in the Oval Office. Following the announcement by his physician, Kevin O’Connor, that he tested positive for COVID-19 one week ago, he has remained alone at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home. This Tuesday, Biden’s test for the virus came back negative. After a dismal debate performance against Trump in June, Biden witnessed Democrats quickly turn against him.
A top congressional ally of President Trump, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), told the Washington Examiner that Harris “lied when she said she wouldn’t collect corporate PAC money and lobbyist money, just like she lied about Joe Biden’s health.” According to the Washington Examiner, several other congressional Democrats have declared their opposition to corporate funding, yet they have either kept accepting these contributions directly or through creative means related to campaign financing.
A few months after Harris said in 2019 that she would no longer accept corporate PAC funding, her leadership PAC accepted a $3,000 payment for UPS, the shipping and receiving corporation, in late December. Records also reveal that in August 2020, she received $2,800 from Crowley Maritime Corporation for her 2020 presidential campaign. Harris appears to have made both contributions to fulfill her primary responsibility, following her withdrawal from the campaign.
Motor City, a leadership PAC associated with Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) that receives funding from major corporations such as Microsoft, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Delta Air Lines, and General Motors, donated $5,000 to Harris in August 2020. Documents reveal that in March 2020, the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund—which receives some corporate funding from limited liability corporations—sent $2,500 to Harris’s leadership PAC.
Records show that throughout the years, firms such as Toyota, Home Depot, Cablevision Systems Corporation, Honeywell International, and others have donated to committees associated with Harris.
“I believe that big business may now spend an infinite amount of money influencing our elections because of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which has a significant outside effect on politics, don’t you think?” Harris stated this in April 2018. “While money has shifted the balance in favor of corporations in elections, we still believe that every person should have an equal vote.” I have genuinely decided that I will not take checks from corporate political action committees. I simply am not.
Financial reports reveal that Harris accepted contributions from registered lobbyists throughout her 2020 campaign, despite her promise to turn down money from K Street.
For example, in October 2019, Patrick Brennan of the San Francisco-based company Rooster LLC gave Harris, who was then running for president, $2,800. Federal records show that lobbyists from companies including DLA Piper, Venable, DCG, and others contributed to Harris’s then-presidential campaign.
In April 2019, The Intercept revealed that Harris had received funds from lobbyists in California, New York, South Carolina, and the technology industry.
Additionally, checks from corporate-funded PACs and registered lobbyists have contributed to Harris’s current 2024 war chest. Politico also revealed the dispersion of former Harris aides across prestigious Washington, D.C. businesses like Holland & Knight, Invariant, and WestExec Advisors, as well as corporations like Airbnb, Ford Motor Co., and Starbucks.
