There was an interesting new post on the subject published at the Campaign Legal Center and written by Communications Manager and “campaign finance and ethics practice” expert Tracy King. Take a look at this excerpt:

Over 70 companies announced that they will suspend some or all of their political action committee (PAC) contributions after the events at the Capitol on an. 6. In response many companies decided to terminate PAC campaign contributions. Following these announcements, there has been push back from congressional staffers for both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

It has been reported that staffers have said they would allow legislation that would be harmful to companies that have pulled their political donations to pass without objection and ban lobbyists from those same companies from coming into their offices. Lawmakers revealing that they are considering punishing companies based on political contributions is no different from extortion.

The Campaign Legal Center also released an official statement on the issue. Here is an excerpt:

The Campaign Legal Center calls on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics to immediately address threats from congressional staff to condition official actions and access to elected officials on campaign contributions. These threats follow widespread promises by donors to cease political contributions in the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol. CLC condemns granting special access or favors for wealthy special interests based on the size of their political donations. We also do not condone lawmakers promoting a pay-to-play culture by legislatively retaliating against those who do not contribute.

Also, visit the main Democracy Chronicles section on American Democracy or our articles on Money Politics and Worldwide Corruption.