maplight

i may have over looked 7/18<div>
</div><div>=</div><div><div></div><div>maplight below nd n raga</div><div>
</div><div><a href="https://maplight.org/story/donors-lobbying-epa-gave-181k-to-pruitt-oklahoma-committees-now-reaping-benefits/">https://maplight.org/story/donors-lobbying-epa-gave-181k-to-pruitt-oklahoma-committees-now-reaping-benefits/</a></div><div>
</div><div>april 2018</div><div>As an Oklahoma politician, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt received $181,000 in political contributions from donors who lobbied the EPA last year, according to a MapLight review.</div>The donors include lobbyist J. Steven Hart and his wife, who have attracted attention for <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-cabinet-trouble-trump-epa-chief-lived-condo/story?id=54095310" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">renting</a> a townhouse to Pruitt -- even as Hart's firm, Williams & Jensen, has <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=EF1FBE9B-24C7-431F-8C98-BE38F98FD173&filingTypeID=60" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">lobbied</a> to relax the EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gas regulations. Hart and his wife donated $4,366 to Pruitt’s campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general and his federal leadership PAC.A handful of companies lobbying Pruitt’s EPA have also been major donors to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), which Pruitt chaired for two years as Oklahoma attorney general. At least one organization that lobbied the EPA last year <a href="http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/130/130659550/130659550_201412_990O.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">donated</a> to RAGA’s nonprofit policy arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, while Pruitt <a href="https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/AF6B16678D423328852580A1002C747F/$FILE/Pruitt,%20Edward%20Scott%20%20%20final278.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">served</a> on its board of directors.As Oklahoma’s chief law enforcement officer from 2011-17, Pruitt earned a reputation for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">working hand-in-hand</a> with energy industry donors to challenge Obama-era EPA rules. Now, previous donors are benefiting from Pruitt’s new position."It's no secret that Pruitt's long been a friend of the oil and gas industry," said Brendan Fischer, a lawyer at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. "You can see many corporate interests seeing it as beneficial to make an investment in promising, young, industry-friendly politicians like Scott Pruitt and then expect a payoff down the line."Devon Energy, an Oklahoma City-based energy company, and its employees donated $15,600 to Pruitt's 2010 and 2014 campaigns for attorney general, as well as $10,000 to federal political committees linked to Pruitt. In 2014, the company <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">gave</a> $125,000 to RAGA while Pruitt served on the organization’s executive committee.Pruitt worked closely with Devon Energy as Oklahoma’s attorney general. In 2011, his office <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/07/us/politics/1-devon-energy-scripted-letters.html?mtrref=undefined" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">sent a letter</a> to the EPA about the agency’s regulation of methane emissions that was written almost entirely by Devon Energy lawyers.Last year, Devon Energy <a href="http://disclosures.house.gov/ld/ldxmlrelease/2017/2A/300918644.xml" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a> lobbying the EPA and the White House on “rules related to methane emissions.” In April 2017, the EPA <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/20/business/energy-environment/devon-energy.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">announced</a> it would postpone a rule requiring companies like Devon Energy to retrofit their equipment to prevent methane leaks from new oil and gas wells.The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), which represents electricity providers and coal producers, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_donors.php?url=527cmtedetail_donors.php%3Fcycle%3D2016%26ein%3D464501717&cname=clean+coal&ein=464501717&cycle=2016" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">donated</a> $388,550 to RAGA from 2014-16. Its employees gave $4,250 to Pruitt’s 2014 re-election campaign and his leadership PAC.Last year, the coalition <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=0FCFCC6E-635E-4536-ABD8-294A9479058E&filingTypeID=51" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">lobbied</a> the EPA on a series of rules that the agency has moved to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/climate/clean-power-plan.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">repeal</a>, <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/epa-delays-coal-plant-toxic-water-rule-54a304de1cb4/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">delay</a> or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/?utm_term=.c0277359cd9f" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">rewrite</a> under Pruitt’s leadership, including its Clean Power Plan, which would limit greenhouse gas emissions by power plants; its Effluent Limitations Guidelines, which would limit water pollution from power plants; and its Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals rule, regulating how power plants dispose of toxic coal ash. Pruitt <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060056858" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">was a featured speaker</a> at an ACCCE board meeting last summer.Koch Industries, the global conglomerate run by billionaire libertarian brothers Charles and David Koch, donated $10,000 to Pruitt’s attorney general campaigns, and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtedetail_donors.php?url=527cmtedetail_donors.php%3Fcycle%3D2016%26ein%3D464501717&cname=koch+industries&ein=464501717&cycle=2016" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">gave</a> $525,000 to RAGA from 2014-16. Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a dark money organization <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/behind-the-curtain-exclusive-the-koch-brothers-secret-bank-096669" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">described</a> as the Kochs’ “secret bank,” <a href="http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/453/453732750/453732750_201412_990O.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">contributed</a> $175,000 to RAGA’s nonprofit arm in 2014.An affiliate of Koch Industries, Koch Companies Public Sector, <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=B61BBB8A-0B92-4539-AEE1-6CE41E5054C5&filingTypeID=69" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">lobbied</a> the Pruitt-led EPA and Congress on the Clean Power Plan, and the family’s billionaire donor network <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/25/koch-brothers-trump-administration/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">recently praised</a> the EPA’s plan to repeal it, according to a document obtained by the Intercept.<div></div></div><div>The country’s second-biggest tobacco company has been a top funder of the controversial “dark money” organization created to promote President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, according to a MapLight review.Reynolds American Inc., which manufactures Newport and Camel cigarettes, disclosed last week that it <a href="http://s2.q4cdn.com/129460998/files/doc_downloads/corporate_poltical/2017-Corporate-Contributions-to-501-(c)-(4)-and-501-(c)-(6)-Organizations.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">donated</a> $1.5 million to America First Policies in 2017. Created by former Trump campaign officials, the nonprofit has faced criticism for the racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic views expressed by its staff.While America First Policies <a href="https://www.axios.com/pro-trump-outside-group-raised-30-million-in-2017-1516759350-449ae7d0-deb8-431f-8912-bc4677761abf.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">raised</a> $26 million last year, three Fortune 500 companies <a href="https://maplight.org/story/southern-co-joins-dow-cvs-in-cutting-off-support-for-pro-trump-dark-money-organization/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">said earlier this month</a> that they would no longer give money to the organization after MapLight reported on their donations. Two officials <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/politics/carl-higbie-america-first-policies/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">have</a> <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/14/politics/kfile-adviser-let-go-from-pro-trump/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">left</a> the group in recent weeks.The donation from Reynolds is the largest known contribution to America First Policies, which does not disclose its donors to the public. Reynolds also <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/286/201704180300150286/201704180300150286.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">gave</a> $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."Dark money groups are often used to disguise the support for candidates or officeholders from unsavory industries," said Brendan Fischer, a lawyer at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. "Trump may not want to be publicly associated with the tobacco industry, but the tobacco industry certainly wants Trump's support for their agenda."Reynolds American and America First Policies did not respond to questions from MapLight.Reynolds has been a major beneficiary of Trump’s time in Washington. The Republican tax bill was a boon for the company, which <a href="http://disclosures.house.gov/ld/ldxmlrelease/2017/Q4/300934638.xml" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">reported lobbying</a> on the legislation. Reynolds <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/north-carolina/articles/2018-03-08/reynolds-american-to-offer-1-000-bonuses-to-most-employees" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">announced</a> that most of its employees would receive a $1,000 bonus. Its parent company, London-based British American Tobacco, said it will ultimately save $13.3 billion under the new law.Last year, the Trump administration <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/reynolds-american-s-proposed-acquisition-by-bat-clears-u-s-antitrust-hurdle-1001819613" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">allowed</a> British American Tobacco’s $54 billion acquisition of Reynolds to proceed without raising any antitrust questions. The purchase created the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company, and it means that Reynolds is now a wholly owned subsidiary of a British company.Although federal election law bars foreign nationals from participating in U.S. elections, domestic subsidiaries of foreign corporations <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/09/fec-stalemates-on-how-to-deal-with-foreign-owned-companies-spending-in-elections/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">are allowed</a> to spend in elections. The only conditions are that the money must come from U.S. profits, and the spending can’t be directed by foreign nationals.In 2016, the Intercept reported that a Chinese-owned company <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/08/03/gop-lawyer-chinese-owned-company-us-presidential-politics/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">had donated</a> $1.3 million to a super PAC supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s failed presidential campaign at the direction of a foreign national.America First Policies and its sister super PAC, America First Action, set a fundraising goal of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/trump-donors-america-first.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">$100 million</a> to support Trump’s agenda and aid Republican congressional candidates in the midterm elections this year.Last year, America First Policies disclosed spending $452,000 to support former Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., in his unsuccessful GOP primary campaign, and it spent more than $1.3 million to prevent Democrat Jon Ossoff from winning an open congressional seat in Georgia.The organization <a href="http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/pence-heckled-repeatedly-by-protesters-during-speech-on-tax-reform" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">has hosted</a> more than a dozen events with Vice President Mike Pence this year to build support for the Republican tax law. Pence was heckled by protestors at a recent America First Policies event in Ohio over his anti-gay views and the administration’s immigration policy, which has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/trump-immigration-children-executive-order.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 99, 150); text-decoration-line: none;">separated thousands</a>of immigrant children from their families at the border.</div><div>=</div>