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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the news that the U.S. House Select Committee on January 6th issued subpoenas to Reps. McCarthy, Perry, Jordan, Biggs and Brooks, Accountable.US renewed its calls for corporations who have donated to lawmakers obstructing the investigation to urge them to fully cooperate with the Select Committee. In February, amid Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s refusal to interview with the Select Committee to discuss his conversations with Donald Trump before, during and after the riot, Accountable.US sent letters to major corporate donors of Rep. McCarthy that have also made public statements in support of preserving democracy in the aftermath of the insurrection.

Accountable.US’ letters noted: “Given the significant amount of campaign money your company’s political action committee has contributed to McCarthy, we believe your voice in this matter would be impactful.” The letter recipients included: Wells Fargo, Eli Lilly,  Walgreens, Duke Energy, Ford Motor Company, American Airlines and Comcast.

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Make no mistake: conservative lawmakers that are still trying to obstruct accountability in service of the Big Lie are undermining our system’s legitimacy and endangering national security. As the January 6th Select Committee unravels the truth behind the deadly attack on our democracy, all eyes are on corporations and lawmakers to prove if they truly believe in protecting our nation’s most sacred institutions. Corporations giving a free pass to those who recklessly keep the Big Lie alive to this day and sow distrust have decided nothing comes before having political influence, not even a healthy democracy.”

Kyle Herrig, President of Accountable.US

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

Accountable.US found Home Depot’s PAC was the top giver two months in a row, totaling $140,000 to election objectors in February and $95,000 in March. The company responded to Accountable.US’ findings that they led the pack in February with a statement effectively declaring their willingness to support any lawmaker they deem pro-business no matter what extreme views they hold. Accountable.US also found that the first quarter of 2022 marked the second largest period in terms of corporate giving to the ‘Sedition Caucus’ since January 6, 2021.

In an emailed response on February 10th to our letter calling on Eli Lilly to urge Rep. McCarthy to fully comply with the Select Committee, a representative from Eli Lilly’s PAC argued that the election objectors had effectively learned their lesson after the company temporarily paused its donations: “[W]e believe that our actions to pause our political contributions [to Republicans in Congress that voted against certifying the 2020 election] were heard—and had an impact.”

Accountable.US sent a follow-up letter to Eli Lilly asking how they concluded the Sedition Caucus learned their lesson considering nearly all their donations to this group came after a pivotal vote in the U.S. House on June 30th, 2021 to establish the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol – and every one of the election objectors, including Leader McCarthy, either voted against establishing it or didn’t bother to vote at all. In response, the company further defended their openness to giving to those who undermined our democracy, arguing: “Contributions from LillyPAC will continue to be in line with Lilly’s purpose to make life better.”

Last August, Accountable.US launched its searchable tracker that allows the public to search Fortune 500 corporations and big corporate trade associations that have contributed to those in Congress that voted against certifying the 2020 election since January of 2021 — including corporations that made pledges to halt or pause donations to the lawmakers that perpetuated the Big Lie. In January, Accountable.US released a major report ‘In Bad Company’ highlighting the hypocrisy of numerous big-name corporations that have not followed through on their words of support for democracy.  

 

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