Amazon’s Bezos Contributed Over $20,000 to Members of Congress
Recipients: Washington’s two Democratic senators, Jason Chaffetz and Orrin Hatch
Jeff Bezos has given more than $20,000 split between four lawmakers — two Democrats and two Republicans — since he bought The Washington Post in October 2013, a review of the billionaire’s Federal Elections Commission files revealed.
In the last three election cycles, Bezos has donated the maximum amount allowed by election laws to two Washington Democrats and two Utah Republicans.
Bezos is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of online retail giant Amazon.
In 2014, he donated $5,200 to longtime Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray’s re-election campaign.
The following cycle, Bezos — the world’s richest man, according to Forbes — forked over $5,400 to Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah.
In August 2017, he maxed out his campaign contributions to Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington and GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who announced in January he will retire at the end of his term.
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On each of his campaign contributions, Bezos listed his employer as “Amazon” or “Amazon.com.” He did not disclose his relationship to The Post.
Amazon headquarters are in Seattle, the biggest city in Murray and Cantwell’s home state.
As Finance Committee chairman, Hatch plays a major role in guiding legislation on technology and intellectual property rights to the Senate floor.
Chaffetz sat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet before retiring last June. He was also on the Oversight Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform.
A spokesperson for Amazon could not immediately be reached for comment on this story.
Earlier Wednesday, The Guardian reported that Robert E. Smith — whose family owns Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the largest local television station operator in the country — gave the maximum $5,400 to Rep. Greg Gianforte’s campaign in March.
He donated the same amount to Gianforte last year, ahead of the Montana Republican’s 6-point special election victory over Democrat Rob Quist.
The television mogul also donated the maximum $10,000 to the Montana Republican Party during Gianforte’s campaign in 2017 and has shelled out over $5,000 to President Donald Trump’s campaign.
