WASHINGTON – Today, Accountable Senate War Room released a report outlining the unusual findings in Senator Mike Crapo’s FEC year-end report, specifically the amount of donations he received from the pharmaceutical and financial industries after the 2020 general election. If Republicans had maintained control of the Senate, Crapo was slated to become the next chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, where he would not only run arguably the most powerful committee in the Senate, but would have had jurisdiction to oversee the very same industries that bankrolled his campaign. Tomorrow the Senate Finance Committee will hear from Xavier Becerra, a fierce advocate for patients and families who has taken on the pharmaceutical industry. Republicans are trying to sink his confirmation for their Big Pharma special interest donors.
“Idahoans sent Senator Crapo to Washington to represent them, but instead he’s looking out for himself and his special interest donors,” said Mairead Lynn, spokesperson for Accountable Senate War Room. “The second it looked like Crapo could take the helm of a powerful committee, he immediately started stuffing his pockets with money from the very industries he’d be responsible for overseeing. Idaho families want someone who fights for a strong economy and access to affordable health care — not a senator who scratches the backs of big corporations and special interests.”
According to the 2020 year-end filings, Crapo received over $196,000 in PAC contributions between October and December 2020, far surpassing the PAC contributions from the previous three quarters combined. He accepted over $40,000 from the pharmaceutical and financial services industries, including $26,000 that came after the 2020 general election. Fellow Idaho Senator Jim Risch, who, unlike Crapo, was up for re-election in 2020, received $137,800 in PAC contributions during the fourth quarter of 2020. That’s over $58,000 less than Crapo received in donations during an off-year. In comparison to Crapo’s next-most recent off-year, during Q4 in 2018, Crapo received just $16,000 from PACs. Under the assumption that he would be the next chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, it’s alarming that Crapo would ramp up his PAC donations from the very same industries he would soon be overseeing.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
