Sen. Loeffler’s husband cuts $1 million check to pro-Trump super PAC
The Georgia senator is facing a tough election battle amid questions about her stock trading.
Jeff Sprecher, the husband of Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), sent a $1 million check to the leading pro-Trump super PAC even as she been fending off criticism around her family’s stock trading.
Sprecher, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, donated to America First Action on April 29, according to a report the Federal Election Commission filed Wednesday evening. America First has been described as the sole “approved outside non-campaign group” by the Trump campaign.
Sprecher’s donation came as Loeffler has faced increasing criticism over stock trading during the coronavirus pandemic. She offloaded stocks shortly after a classified briefing on Covid-19 in January.
Loeffler has maintained she has done nothing wrong, saying she does not control her own stock trading. She later said she would no longer trade individual stocks.
Last week, Loeffler’s office said she turned over documents to the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee regarding the trading. “The documents and information demonstrated her and her husband’s lack of involvement in their managed accounts, as well the details of those accounts,” a statement from her office said last weekend.
Loeffler is facing a tough intraparty challenge for her seat from Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.). Loeffler, Collins and a handful of Democratic candidates will face off in November in a special election, with the top two candidates advancing to a runoff if no candidate breaks 50 percent.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has stuck with Loeffler despite the inquiry.
“Kelly Loeffler is a strong conservative voice for the people of Georgia,” NRSC Chair Todd Young (R-Ind.) said in an interview with POLITICO in early April. “She’s effectively representing them and she will continue to be an effective United States senator for the people of Georgia after November.”
Collins was Trump’s initial preference for the Senate seat left vacant when Sen. Johnny Isakson retired. But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp bucked Trump and appointed Loeffler, who was sworn in as an interim senator in early January.
Loeffler has committed her sizable personal wealth to her campaign for November, loaning her campaign $10 million and pledging more.
Sprecher was not America First Action’s largest donor in April. Businessman Timothy Mellon gave $10 million to the super PAC.