Donations and Democracy

- Latest country briefing, issued 30 September 2024: "Netherlands: The connection between Netherlands-headquartered companies and U.S. Congress members who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election – Democracy, human rights and rule of law concerns"

- Second country briefing, issued August 2024: "Australia: The connection between Australian companies and U.S. Congress members who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election – Democracy, human rights and rule of law concerns"

- First country briefing, issued April 2024: "Sweden: The connection between Swedish companies and U.S. Congress members who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election – Democracy, human rights and rule of law concerns"

- Future briefings will include: Belgium, Bermuda (UK overseas territory), Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, UK, United Arab Emirates. 

- Sign up on this page of our website to receive our future country briefings.

1. Donations and Democracy is an independent, non-partisan initiative, without connection to any other organization, and with no outside funding.  We draw attention to foreign-headquartered companies whose subsidiaries' Political Action Committees (PACs) have donated to the campaigns of U.S. Congress members after they voted against certifying the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. We also identify foreign companies connected through their subsidiaries with trade associations whose PACs have donated to such campaigns. 147 U.S. Congress members voted against certification after the courts had ruled the election was fair; their attempt to deny certification was unsuccessful. The certification votes started the evening of 6 January 2021; earlier in the day there had been an emergency recess in congressional proceedings and the Capitol was locked down, when a mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building.

- See the page of this website entitled "Explanation of the certification votes in Congress, 6-7 January 2021" for an explanation of: the certification votes; the attack on the Capitol building which forced a recess in the certification proceedings; determinations (in the weeks before the certification votes) by courts and the Trump administration U.S. Department of Justice that the election had been fair.

- See "About us" for information about our team, including international human rights lawyers, all volunteers working without pay.

- See "International Advisory Network" for a list of 50 human rights, democracy and rule of law experts, from 17 countries, who serve on our International Advisory Network.

2. Human rights, democracy and rule of law concerns: The driving force of this initiative:  When companies and their trade associations fund the campaigns of candidates after they have voted to overturn results of a democratic election, and after the courts have ruled the election was fair, this raises concerns about respect for internationally-recognized standards on free and fair elections, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. 

- See the page of this website entitled "Human rights, democracy and rule of law concerns based on internationally-recognized standards" for an explanation of relevant international standards.

3. Concerns voiced about the attempt to deny certification: 

- Grave concerns were raised across the political spectrum about the attempt by some members of Congress to deny certification of the election results. For example, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said before voting started: "The voters, the courts and the states have all spoken. If we overrule them all, it would damage our republic forever.” 

- Legal experts have also raised concerns.  For example, Laurence Tribe, Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School, remarked while the attack on the Capitol building was taking place: "Any halfway decent member of the House or Senate who was planning to object to the Electoral Vote count must now desist. They’ve had not just their day in court but months in court .... This has crossed the line past sedition ...." 

- Business leaders voiced concerns. For example, on 4 January 2021, nearly 200 U.S. business leaders had signed an open letter calling on Congress to certify the election results on January 6, noting that “the courts have rejected challenges to the electoral process”, and arguing that any attempt to thwart or delay the certification process would “run counter to the essential tenets of our democracy.” 

- See the page of this website entitled "Statements about the attempt by some members of Congress to deny certification of election results" for statements of concern by these and many others, including a bipartisan group of senators; other constitutional law professors; all 10 living former defense secretaries; and League of Women Voters. All sources are cited on that webpage.

4. Concerns voiced about companies donating to the 147: Strong concerns have been raised about companies and trade associations that donate to members of Congress after they voted against certification. 

- The Boston Globe Editorial Board wrote after the votes that 147 Congress members had voted to overturn the election, “opting to reject democracy simply because their candidate lost.”  The editorial said that as long as members of Congress “are not punished for their assaults on voting rights and democracy, they will continue to promote conspiracy theories with abandon and could very well redo their attempt to overturn a legitimate election come 2022 or 2024. And if, or when, they do, every company that has decided to donate to their campaigns will be just as guilty in destroying the fabric of American democracy.”

- The Lincoln Project, a U.S. political action committee "dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy", founded by moderate conservatives and former Republican Party members who oppose Trumpism, in July 2021 reportedly announced a new strategy to confront “the Sedition Caucus and its enablers” by calling attention to corporations that donate to the campaigns of lawmakers who voted against certifying the presidential election results. As reported by The Hill, Lincoln Project co-founder Reed Galen said that the Lincoln Project would be informing employees, shareholders and customers about those companies’ “egregious anti-American behavior.” He continued: “The Lincoln Project will not sit by and watch as companies like Toyota — companies that have benefited from America’s economic strength and freedom — give money to politicians who are working to overthrow that same system. This is no longer a fight between two political parties or entrenched interests. It is no less than a fight to preserve American democracy.”

- See the page of this website entitled "Comments about companies that donate to members of Congress after they voted against certification" for statements of concern by these and others (including Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale School of Management), and comments by customers of some of the companies that made such donations. All sources are cited on that webpage.

5. What companies are identified?

Our country-specific briefings, all of which will be added to this website, identify two separate categories of foreign-headquartered companies:

- Direct connection: Those foreign-headquartered companies whose subsidiaries have made direct donations, via their PACs (Political Action Committees), to the campaigns of one or more of the 147 U.S. Congress members after they voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. See our running list of these companies.

- Indirect connection: Those foreign-headquartered companies with subsidiaries that are currently or recently members, sponsors, "partners", or otherwise associated with U.S. trade associations whose PACs have made donations to the campaigns of one or more of those 147 politicians after the vote. Trade associations are industry lobby groups that represent companies and are funded by them. 

- See the page of this website entitled "PACs (Political Action Committees)" for an explanation of how PACs work.

- See the page of this website entitled "Companies' indirect connections to donations via trade associations." 

6. Companies and trade associations are invited to contact us if they wish to submit a clarification, or a statement: contact@donations-and-democracy.org.

7. What is the source of information about these donations?

Donations data is publicly available, published by the U.S. Federal Election Commission. 

8. What time period is covered?

Our country-specific briefings cover donations made after the certification votes on 6 and 7 January 2021, through the date specified in the text of each country briefing.

9. Are all types of company and trade association donations covered by Donations and Democracy?

Unfortunately we are only able to cover donations by company and trade association PACs to the campaigns of those members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results. It is important to recognize that some companies and trade associations have assisted these same politicians indirectly, including by making donations to other PACs and committees that turn around and fund these politicians' campaigns, and by making donations to Super PACs which advocate for these politicians or against their opponents.

See: 

- “Outside spending - Summary," OpenSecrets

- “Corporate Contributions to Outside Groups," OpenSecrets

- “Super PACs," OpenSecrets

10. Why is this initiative focused on foreign-headquartered companies and not on companies headquartered in the United States?

The major U.S. companies donating to the 147 politicians who opposed certification have already been identified by others, therefore this initiative is complementary. For donations by U.S. companies and trade associations, see the following:

- Accountable.US: "Corporate Donations Tracker: Shedding light on the Fortune 500 corporations and big corporate lobbyists funding the 2020 Election objectors since January 2021."

- CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington): "This sedition is brought to you by…."