[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2443-S2445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DARK MONEY
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am here to talk about money in
politics and, even more insidiously and potentially perniciously, money
in government.
The money in politics begins with the President's nominee to be
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. I suggest to my colleagues that they
read an article that appeared in opensecrets.org from the Center for
Responsive Politics. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics, March 24, 2018]
Trump Picks Top Koch Recipient for Secretary of State
(By Megan Janetsky and Matthew Kelly)
President Trump nixed Rex Tillerson as secretary of state
Tuesday in favor of CIA Director Mike Pompeo, a former Kansas
congressman whose political career was paved by Koch
Industries.
Headquartered in Pompeo's former Wichita district, the
privately held company run by conservative megadonors Charles
and David Koch has funneled more money to the Trump pick than
any other federal politician.
The oil-and-gas conglomerate built a reputation for using a
network of ``dark money'' to exert political influence and
was Pompeo's top donor over the course of his former
congressional career.
That ``in'' may work to the advantage of the Koch brothers,
who hold a significant interest in global affairs, especially
with Trump's recently imposed tariffs.
TOP DONORS TO MIKE POMPEO
[Career Totals]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Donor Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Koch Industries......................................... $400,500
Textron................................................. $79,810
Mull Drilling........................................... $70,350
Club for Growth......................................... $64,817
Ritchie Exploration..................................... $55,954
INTRUST Bank............................................ $55,300
McCoy Petroleum......................................... $52,550
AT&T.................................................... $51,250
Cox Enterprises......................................... $47,300
Emprise Bank............................................ $44,555
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since his first bid for Congress in 2010, Pompeo has
received $400,500 from Koch Industries--$335,500 from
individual employee contributions and $65,000 from its
corporate PAC, Center for Responsive Politics data shows.
Each election cycle leading up to his confirmation as CIA
director in 2017, Pompeo led all federal politicians in Koch-
related donations. He's also received more money from the oil
interest than any candidate since 1989.
Trump's announcement came in a surprise tweet Tuesday
morning, adding Tillerson to a growing list of White House
officials to unceremoniously leave the administration.
Tillerson thanked members of the State Department in a news
conference that afternoon, saying ``the world needs selfless
leaders such as these.''
``I will address a few administrative matters related to my
departure and work towards a smooth and orderly transition
for secretary of state-designate, Mike Pompeo,'' Tillerson
told reporters.
Pompeo's relationship with the Kochs has held strong over
the years. In 2014, when he faced a tough primary challenge,
the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity group spent over
$409,000 supporting Pompeo.
Other congressional leaders who trailed Pompeo in career
donations from Koch Industries include House Speaker Paul
Ryan (R-Wis.) with $274,172 and Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) with $148,350.
But Pompeo's ties to the Koch brothers predate his
political career.
He used investments from the Koch empire to help kick-start
a Wichita-based company, Thayer Aerospace. After leaving the
company, Pompeo acted as head of Sentry International, an oil
drilling manufacturer with Koch ties.
Those investments seem to have paid off.
When Pompeo entered Congress, he brought with him a former
Koch Industries lawyer as his chief of staff. Within his
first week on the job, Pompeo proposed measures considered
top legislative priorities for Koch Industries.
The proposals included cutting funding for an Environmental
Protection Agency registry of greenhouse-gas polluters and a
database of consumer complaints about unsafe products, The
Washington Post reported.
Along with Koch support, Pompeo has been bankrolled by
other oil-and-gas interests, including Textron, Mull Drilling
and McCoy Petroleum. The industry has given him a total of
$1.2 million, the most by any industry, CRP data shows.
Now Pompeo enters the role of the White House's chief
diplomat, a position that can affect the financial interests
of multinational companies.
[[Page S2444]]
TOP POLITICIANS SUPPORTED BY KOCH INDUSTRIES
[Career Totals]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Politican Last Office Sought Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Pompeo (R-KS)................ House............... $400,500
Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)................ House............... $388,766
Paul Ryan (R-WI).................. House............... $274,172
Pat Roberts (R-KS)................ Senate.............. $258,850
James M Inhofe (R-OK)............. Senate.............. $187,150
Jerry Moran (R-KS)................ Senate.............. $175,900
Roy Blunt (R-MO).................. Senate.............. $168,600
Sam Brownback (R)................. President........... $168,050
Pete Sessions (R-TX).............. House............... $162,000
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)............ Senate.............. $148,350
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Koch brothers already have a broad international
presence. According to the company's website, Koch companies
alone ``employ more than 120,000 people across about 60
countries.''
While Pompeo has yet to take a stance on Trump's recently
rolled out tariffs, Charles Koch harshly rejected them,
saying in a press release last week that ``History is filled
with examples of administrations that implemented trade
restrictions with devastating results.''
``One might assume that, as head of Koch Industries--a
large company involved in many industries, including steel--I
would applaud such import tariffs because they would be to
our immediate and financial benefit,'' he wrote. ``Corporate
leaders must reject this type of short-term thinking, and we
have.''
Late last year, the Charles Koch Foundation embarked on a
multimillion-dollar project to promote the realist school of
foreign policy in programs at elite universities such as
Harvard, Notre Dame and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Koch is an outspoken libertarian when it comes to foreign
policy, and the realist school of foreign policy champions
restraint on the world stage and taking a backseat on
humanitarian intervention and nation-building.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. The article has the headline ``Trump picks top Koch
recipient for secretary of state.'' The article says that ``former
Kansas congressman whose political career was paved by Koch
Industries'' received more money than others in similar situations.
The reasons to vote against Mike Pompeo are many, but one of the
principal ones is that he was one of the chief recipients of money from
the Koch brothers or their organizations. In fact, since his first bid
for Congress in 2010, Pompeo has received $400,000 from Koch
Industries, $335,000 from employee contributions, and $65,000 from its
corporate PAC, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Pompeo nomination is a poster boy for the impact of money in
politics, the influence of the Koch brothers on this administration,
and the enduring effect of campaign contributions, of influence-buying
and pettiness in government.
The Koch brothers are blatantly using their influence in the Trump
administration to advance an agenda based on their own self-interests
at the expense of our democracy, and they have reached into the
uppermost levels and echelons of this administration through
individuals they have supported over years and years, such as Mike
Pompeo.
In July of 2015, 2 weeks before he kicked off his campaign for
President, the President said through a tweet: ``I really like the Koch
Brothers (members of my [Palm Beach] Club), but I don't want their
money or anything else from them. Cannot influence Trump!'' Well, they
are good friends. They are members of the club. And nobody can deny
their influence on Donald Trump, their impact on this administration,
or their enduring reaches and effects on public policy.
If you have ever wondered where Republican ideological positions
originated on lowering corporate taxes, undercutting healthcare, or
loosening environmental regulations, look no further than a Koch front
group called Americans for Prosperity. Americans for Prosperity is the
recipient of the largest grants made by another organization called
Freedom Partners. POLITICO describes Freedom Partners as ``the Koch
brothers' secret bank.'' The group peddles dark money to front groups
to drum up public support for policies that benefit the richest of the
rich.
The Americans for Prosperity organization has been called by the
Washington Post ``the third largest political party in the United
States.'' It was founded in 2004 by David Koch, who serves as the
chairman of the board, and he has crammed the group with Republican
operatives. Many of them work for the Vice President. They operate in
36 States. They are heavily involved in electoral activities, spending
millions of dollars on TV ads that spread disinformation, falsely
claiming that the middle class will benefit from policies designed to
enrich the millionaire backers and billionaire backers of Americans for
Prosperity.
The organizations backed by these two groups and others have
consistently claimed that tax cuts for the wealthy will benefit all
Americans. They have consistently argued for measures that cause
environmental degradation. In fact, the Koch brothers have an enormous
stake in repealing regulations that protect the environment and put
limits on polluting fossil fuel companies, repealing those regulations
designed to accomplish that goal.
Americans for Prosperity drives the Koch energy agenda. The group
spent millions lobbying for its industry-backed champion, Scott Pruitt,
to head the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as others
nominated for EPA and Energy Department positions. Once they were in
place, these cronies wasted no time in seeking to dismantle the
environmental regulations prohibiting oil and gas drilling on Federal
lands, withdraw from the Clean Power Plan, which is aimed at cutting
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and revoke a moratorium on new coal
leases.
There are other examples of influence by an American in modern
political history but none so egregious as the Koch brothers in this
administration.
Most recently, we saw their influence on the judiciary in suppressing
votes. The Koch brothers are throwing a lot of money behind the
nomination of judges who are poised to rule in their favor, undermining
judicial precedence and the rule of law. Its network is helping Donald
Trump stack the courts with far-right ideologues.
Donald Trump entered office with more than 100 vacancies on the
Federal bench--an opportunity created in part by Senate Republicans who
blocked many of Barack Obama's nominees before he left office. Judges
enjoy lifetime appointments. If the Koch brothers succeed in rigging
the judiciary against the needs of everyday Americans, the effects will
be felt for generations to come.
Americans for Prosperity is also behind shameless efforts to suppress
votes. It has launched disinformation campaigns, sending out bogus
registration mailings with incorrect deadlines in swing States like
North Carolina and Wisconsin. When challenged, Americans for Prosperity
claims that these blatant lies were the result of clerical error.
Our Nation needs prosperity but not an influence-peddling
organization that claims to be for prosperity but, in fact, leads to
policy that undermines the prosperity of everyday Americans.
My reasons for opposing Mike Pompeo's nomination go well beyond the
campaign contributions he has received. His views are contrary to
American values. He has repeatedly devalued and dismissed religious
tolerance. He has allied himself with anti-Islam and anti-LGBT groups.
At a time when the environment our children will inherit hangs in the
balance, he is a career-long climate change denier, drowning in dark
money from the Koch brothers' oil industry. His regressive views on
reproductive rights jeopardize the healthcare of millions of women
around the world. If confirmed, he will be responsible for executing
Donald Trump's misguided policies, and he will reinforce Donald Trump's
misguided instinct, expanding, for example, the global gag rule that
prevents foreign aid from being provided to global health programs that
discuss or provide abortion services. He will cut programs covering
everything from HIV prevention, to maternal and child health, to
epidemic disease response, putting our lives at risk.
Money in politics has reached its apex in this administration, not
only in politics but in government. Just within the last day or so, the
President's Director of the Office of Management and Budget gave a
speech to a group of bankers in which he said:
We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress. If you were a
lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn't talk to you. If
you were a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.
That quote from Mick Mulvaney, the head of the Office of Management
and Budget, was made to a group of about 1,300 bankers in plain view
and hearing of the American public.
[[Page S2445]]
First, the idea that a lobbyist would have to pay in order to have
access to a Member of Congress or his administration raises the
potential of bribery, extortion, and perhaps pay-to-play. It is pay-to-
play and the image of it that has so sullied this town and government
in general that President Trump swayed so many people by describing it
as a swamp. Well, the swamp has been deepened, and it has been further
polluted by exactly this kind of talk.
I will say to Mick Mulvaney: You are destroying the credibility and
trust of the American people and our honest colleagues, who come to
work every day and try to help and serve the American people. Some of
them still work in the Federal Government at high levels, in fear of
losing their jobs because they adhere to a standard of integrity that
no longer prevails.
In fact, the mindset and mentality of pay-to-play has become the new
normal in this administration. It is filled with people at the highest
levels who regard unbridled and unapologetic graft as the new normal.
That is what that quote says to the average American.
It is typical of the practices of the Administrator of the EPA, who
accepts virtually free lodging from a lobbyist who has access to him,
as well as takes luxury flights and stays in exorbitantly expensive
hotels at taxpayers' expense. Conflicts of interest, ethical
violations, and other kinds of betrayal of the public trust have become
commonplace at the top levels of the EPA.
It is the mindset of a President of the United States who literally
every day accepts benefits from foreign governments and payment in
violation of the U.S. Constitution, specifically in violation of the
emoluments clause that prohibits such benefits and payments without the
consent of Congress. Donald Trump has never come to the U.S. Congress
seeking approval for the payments and benefits that go to the Trump
Organization, which he still owns. That failure is a violation of the
emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, and it is the reason that
200 of us Members of Congress have brought legal action to vindicate
our trust and the trust of the American people that the Constitution
will be followed and that we will do our job. We have standing to bring
that action because the President of the United States is preventing us
from reviewing those payments and benefits that go to him, which we
have an obligation to review under the U.S. Constitution. That case
will be heard in court in June.
I hope the courts will vindicate the rule of law. I hope we will see
an end to this corrosive and corrupting impact of money in politics and
money in government through a web of deceit and contempt for the rule
of law that betrays the trust of the American people.
The Washington, DC, that is conveyed by these quotes and actions by
officials at the very top of our government are not my Washington. They
are not the Washington, DC, of many of our colleagues--honest and hard-
working in this Chamber, in the House of Representatives, and in the
executive and judicial branches--who continue to do their job. Among
them are two of our colleagues: Johnny Isakson and Jon Tester.
Senator Isakson of Georgia and Senator Tester of Montana have helped
to lead the Veterans' Affairs Committee over the past few days as it
raises concerns and questions about the serious allegations made by men
and women in uniform or retired Active-Duty military. These concerns go
directly to the ethics and integrity and character and ability of the
President's nominee to be VA Secretary, Ronny Jackson, a rear admiral
in the U.S. Navy. There is no realistic path at this point to
confirmation of Admiral Jackson. He should have a hearing if he wishes.
He should be considered if he chooses. But the administration owes the
American people, as well as the Senate, answers to questions raised by
the chairman and ranking member of the VA Committee. I have talked to
both of them, as well as the staff, about this investigation, and I
have participated in their thinking and support their efforts to
uncover the truth. Facts are stubborn things. That is what Ronald
Reagan said. It remains true even more so today in this inquiry.
The administration has failed to vet this nomination. It failed
abjectly to uncover the truth before it submitted this nomination. It
owes the truth and the facts now to the Senate before there is any
hearing. Documents and evidence should be provided, and the
administration should reverse course, if necessary, and make sure that
full access is provided to all of these documents and evidence.
As recently as yesterday, members of the VA Committee were barred
from viewing the FBI background check. The Inspector General's report
of 2012 on Rear Admiral Jackson was not provided to our committee, and
other relevant evidence and documents may exist, but they have been
denied.
I urge the administration to provide the facts, respond to the
questions, and address the serious allegations that have been made,
because they are consistent and credible and compelling. The more time
goes on, the more serious and substantial these allegations become in
their detail and depth and power. Time is not on their side, and so
far, the administration has abjectly failed to respond.
I thank Senators Isakson and Tester for their leadership and for
their insistence on integrity and character because our veterans
deserve it. Most importantly, our veterans deserve the very best
leader, not one who will be encumbered by the baggage of allegations,
unrefuted and unrebutted so far. Our veterans deserve the very best in
healthcare and employment opportunities and skill training. Our
veterans deserve that we keep faith with them and choose the very best
leader, with experience in management, as well as a commitment to the
high standards of integrity that befit the Veterans' Administration. It
has seen problems. It needs improvement and reforms. The path forward
for the VA is with a person and a leader who has unimpeachable
integrity.
I thank Senator Isakson and Senator Tester for their leadership and
insistence on that high bar in the Veterans' Administration for the
sake of our veterans.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I yield the floor.
____________________