WASHINGTON – Dallas-based AT&T is suspending contributions from its high-dollar political action committee to the members of Congress – all Republicans, including 17 from Texas – who voted last week to object to certified Electoral College votes.
A spokesperson for the telecom and media giant on Monday confirmed that those lawmakers were cut off for the time being.
“Employees on our federal PAC board convened a call today and decided to suspend contributions to members of Congress who voted to object to the certification of Electoral College votes last week,” the AT&T spokesperson said.
The punishment underscores the continued fallout over the failed effort in Congress to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory and the corresponding insurrection that played out after President Donald Trump incited his supporters to march on the Capitol.
AT&T is one of several major companies, including Marriott and Blue Cross Blue Shield, to now halt donations to the objectors, while other corporations have decided to pause their political giving altogether or to reevaluate their programs, the Washington Post reported.
Terrell Rep. Lance Gooden, a GOP objector who received $6,000 from AT&T’s PAC in 2020, said it was “sad, but not surprising,” that the company is “now caving to the left wing mob.”
“AT&T has one of the largest lobby shops in Washington and I heard from none of them during the month-long period of me making my objection plans known,” Gooden, a second-term lawmaker and vocal Trump supporter, said in a written statement.
He added on Twitter: “Why do corporations suddenly care today?”
I didn’t get a call from any corporate lobbyists before the objection vote.
— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) January 11, 2021
Why do corporations suddenly care today?
They are bowing down to the left-wing mob!
It’s no idle move for AT&T to turn off its spigot of campaign cash to certain lawmakers, particularly those in its home state of Texas.
The company is among the biggest power players in Washington, with its PAC sending more than $2.6 million in contributions to lawmakers in the 2020 election cycle alone. That ranked it as the fifth-most active PAC in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
AT&T gives to both Republicans and Democrats, though it has given more to the GOP over the years.
Of the Texas Republicans who objected to the certified Electoral College votes in either Arizona or Pennsylvania, Gooden was one of 11 who received money from AT&T’s political action committee in the 2020 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission data.
The other lawmakers are Reps. Jodey Arrington of Lubbock, Michael Burgess of Pilot Point, John Carter of Round Rock, Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, Troy Nehls of Richmond, Pete Sessions of Waco, Beth Van Duyne of Irving, Randy Weber of Friendswood, Roger Williams of Austin and Ron Wright of Arlington.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican who spearheaded the objection effort in the Senate, also received $10,000 from AT&T’s PAC in 2018, when he squared off against former El Paso Rep. Beto O’Rourke in a closer than expected reelection battle.
Aside from Gooden, none of those Texas Republicans immediately responded to a request for comment.
A lack of contributions from AT&T’s PAC isn’t likely to sink any of those lawmakers’ campaigns. Corporate PACs are limited by law in how much that can give in a cycle, and the real money in politics these days tends to come from small-dollar individual donors.
But AT&T is still a cultural touchstone, with its headquarters standing out in the Dallas skyline and its name being emblazoned on the likes of the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington. Many Texans rely upon the company every day for everything from internet to cell service.
Many Democrats and activists have pressured AT&T and its corporate brethren to take action against the politicians who participated in the effort to object to Electoral College votes.
End Citizens United, a campaign finance-focused PAC that supports Democratic political candidates, on Monday had specifically urged AT&T and other corporations to demand a return of campaign donations from Cruz over his role in the objection push.
“The corporations that donated to Ted Cruz have funded the senator’s efforts to incite a violent insurrection and deadly coup,” Tiffany Muller, the group’s president, said in a news release.
Cruz has described the insurrection as a “terrorist attack on the United States Capitol.” But he has pushed back against the notion that he bears responsibility for the violence, saying that the debate on the Senate floor had “nothing to do with criminal terrorist assault.”
It remains to be seen if other companies in Texas and beyond likewise decide to cut off contributions to those select Republicans. Several of the corporate decisions made on Monday were first reported by Popular Information, a political newsletter.
