Billionaire Texas real-estate mogul Harlan Crow has reluctantly emerged into the national spotlight after ProPublica revealed the largess he has bestowed on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Crow’s lawyers have rejected a request from Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin to provide a list of Crow’s gifts to Thomas. ProPublica, however, revealed that these extravagant gifts included private jet trips, megayacht excursions, lavish vacations, a $19,000 Bible that once belonged to abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and several properties for Thomas, including the house where the justice’s mother still lives.
Crow and his wife, Kathy, have for decades been GOP megadonors, contributing millions of dollars to Republican candidates and campaign committees over the past three decades, according to OpenSecrets, the nonpartisan, independent group that tracks money in politics. But Federal Election Commission records reveal that the Crows have also donated several hundred thousand dollars to a select group of congressional Democrats during this same period, OpenSecrets reported.
These Democrats are known for blocking their party’s more progressive initiatives, including President Joe Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better economic agenda in 2021-2022. They include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who last December switched her affiliation to independent, as well as a group of moderate to conservative House Democrats, including Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.
Crow is also a megadonor to No Labels, the supposedly nonpartisan centrist group that wants to launch a third-party unity presidential campaign in 2024 with one Republican and one Democrat on the ticket. Democrats fear that these efforts will siphon enough votes to help Donald Trump or another Republican candidate defeat Biden in a close election.
RELATED STORY: Harlan Crow's lawyer grudgingly agrees to talk
The New Republic reported that it had obtained a document with figures showing that Crow donated over $130,000 to No Labels between 2019 and 2021.
RELATED STORY: In 2022, for the first time, billionaires spent more than $1 billion on midterm elections
OpenSecrets has published a lengthy list of Crow’s donations based on federal campaign finance data. These donations have maximum caps. The transparency group added:
Business Insider reported on Crow’s donations to Sinema and Manchin:
Crow’s donations, though small, are reflective of a larger trend. The anti-corruption website Sludge reported in November 2021:
Sludge listed more than a dozen Republican megadonors, including Crow, who had donated to Manchin and/or Sinema.
Truthout conducted a search of FEC data on individual campaign contributions that found that Crow had made donations to members of the “Unbreakable Nine,” a group of conservative Democratic House members who “threw a major wrench into the negotiations” on the Build Back Better legislation.
Crow and his wife, Kathy, have for decades been GOP megadonors, contributing millions of dollars to Republican candidates and campaign committees over the past three decades, according to OpenSecrets, the nonpartisan, independent group that tracks money in politics. But Federal Election Commission records reveal that the Crows have also donated several hundred thousand dollars to a select group of congressional Democrats during this same period, OpenSecrets reported.
These Democrats are known for blocking their party’s more progressive initiatives, including President Joe Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better economic agenda in 2021-2022. They include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who last December switched her affiliation to independent, as well as a group of moderate to conservative House Democrats, including Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.
Crow is also a megadonor to No Labels, the supposedly nonpartisan centrist group that wants to launch a third-party unity presidential campaign in 2024 with one Republican and one Democrat on the ticket. Democrats fear that these efforts will siphon enough votes to help Donald Trump or another Republican candidate defeat Biden in a close election.
RELATED STORY: Harlan Crow's lawyer grudgingly agrees to talk
The New Republic reported that it had obtained a document with figures showing that Crow donated over $130,000 to No Labels between 2019 and 2021.
RELATED STORY: In 2022, for the first time, billionaires spent more than $1 billion on midterm elections
OpenSecrets has published a lengthy list of Crow’s donations based on federal campaign finance data. These donations have maximum caps. The transparency group added:
Business Insider reported on Crow’s donations to Sinema and Manchin:
Sinema and Manchin worked to neuter much of Biden’s Build Back Better social spending and climate bill. They also rejected efforts to weaken the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster to create carve-outs to pass voting and abortion rights legislation.
Crow’s donations, though small, are reflective of a larger trend. The anti-corruption website Sludge reported in November 2021:
Sludge listed more than a dozen Republican megadonors, including Crow, who had donated to Manchin and/or Sinema.
Truthout conducted a search of FEC data on individual campaign contributions that found that Crow had made donations to members of the “Unbreakable Nine,” a group of conservative Democratic House members who “threw a major wrench into the negotiations” on the Build Back Better legislation.
Insider reported that Crow has contributed $12,500 to Cuellar since 2006. Cuellar, who opposes abortion rights, defeated progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros by less than 300 votes in the 2022 Democratic primary. The Texas billionaire has given $16,800 to Gottheimer since 2018,
contributing thousands as recently as October 2022. But the Crows’ contributions have overwhelmingly gone to support Republicans and Republican-affiliated committees, according to OpenSecrets.
And Slate reported:
And Slate reported: