“A dozen megadonors and their spouses contributed a combined $3.4 billion to federal candidates and political groups since 2009, accounting for nearly one out of every 13 dollars raised,” the New York Times reports.

A new report shows the top 12 donors split equally between six Democrats and six Republicans.

“Republicans loyal to Donald Trump raised record sums of money in the first three months of this year, even as US corporations said they would pause or stop political giving in the wake of the January 6 siege on the US Capitol,” the Financial Times reports.

“The figures underscore the enduring enthusiasm of Trump’s supporter base and the Republican grassroots. It also highlights the increasing power of small-dollar donors at a time when corporations have withheld political spending over the US Capitol attacks, which interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory and left five people dead.”

Politico: “Most House Republicans who objected to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory saw their small-dollar fundraising rise in the first three months of this year compared to the same quarter in 2019, in the latest indication that Republicans aren’t facing a major cash crunch three months after many corporate PACs vowed to stop giving to their campaigns.”

Pfizer says it’s $2,500 campaign donation to Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) was made in error, the Daily Beast reports.

From a statement: “We continue to stand by our decision to pause Pfizer PAC contributions to all 147 Members of Congress who voted against certifying the Electoral College results. The donation to Rep. Adrian Smith was made in error and has been cancelled.”

Axios: “The Justice Department accuses Jame Kyle Bell, the man behind the Keep America Great Committee, of enlisting a digital fundraising firm to fraudulently appeal to Trump supporters to chip in on behalf of the Trump re-election effort.”

“The Keep America Great Committee’s ads, website, and online donation page were largely copied from those belonging to Trump and other legitimate political groups.”

“None of the nearly $250,000 the KAGC raised actually went to supporting political candidates, prosecutors say. Instead, they say, Bell pocketed the money.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee fundraising page includes a pre-checked box that makes it a monthly recurring donation.

Unchecking the box makes supporters a “DEFECTOR” who has “sided with the Dems.”

This is what the Trump campaign internally called a “money bomb” to effectively trick their donors.

“My warning, if you will, to corporate America is to stay out of politics. It’s not what you’re designed for. And don’t be intimidated by the left into taking up causes that put you right in the middle of America’s greatest political debates.”

— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by the New York Times, issuing a warning to corporations.

McConnell’s position now seems to be that campaign donations are free speech, but actual speech is not.

Judd Legum: “On January 11, Facebook announced that ‘following last week’s awful violence’ it was suspending donations from its political committee ‘for at least the current quarter, while we review our policies.'”

“But campaign finance records… reveal that, 44 days later, Facebook donated $50,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee. Facebook routed the donation through a fundraising vehicle that the RSLC set up in Virginia, a state with lax campaign finance laws that allows unlimited direct corporate contributions. The primary goal of the RSLC is to elect Republicans to state legislatures and other state-level offices across the country.”

Insider: “Two government watchdog groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing the Georgia Republican Party of illegally accepting in-kind contributions from True the Vote, a nonprofit that engaged in election-related activities around the Georgia Senate runoffs.”

Jane Meyer: “A recording obtained by The New Yorker of a private conference call on January 8th, between a policy adviser to Senator Mitch McConnell and the leaders of several prominent conservative groups—including one run by the Koch brothers’ network—reveals the participants’ worry that the proposed election reforms garner wide support not just from liberals but from conservative voters, too.”

“The speakers on the call expressed alarm at the broad popularity of the bill’s provision calling for more public disclosure about secret political donors. The participants conceded that the bill, which would stem the flow of dark money from such political donors as the billionaire oil magnate Charles Koch, was so popular that it wasn’t worth trying to mount a public-advocacy campaign to shift opinion.”

“Instead, a senior Koch operative said that opponents would be better off ignoring the will of American voters and trying to kill the bill in Congress.”

Washington Post: “The aggressive pitch to Republican contributors comes as the number of independent money operations connected to Trump — some directly associated with the former president, others that have his tacit blessing — has been rapidly expanding since he left office.”

“The groups, which include both nonprofits and big-money super PACs, are seeking to capitalize on Trump’s fundraising firepower, which drove a record $2.2 billion into the three Republican Party campaign committees during his time in office.”

“GOP officials are now trying to keep that pipeline going, a prospect complicated by Trump’s ambivalence about letting the party continue to fundraise off his name — and the separate fundraising efforts springing up around him, some of which could take aim at Republicans who have crossed the former president.”

Axios: “The immediate and intense political fallout over the insurrection pushed scores of companies to announce a pause or end to political donations. New numbers suggest an even larger chilling effect, with companies that had been quiet publicly also forgoing donations.”

New York Times: “Steve Schmidt and the three other men who started the Lincoln Project — John Weaver, Reed Galen and Rick Wilson — had already quietly moved to set themselves up in the new enterprise, drafting and filing papers to create TLP Media in September and October, records show. Its aim was to transform the original project, a super PAC, into a far more lucrative venture under their control.”

“This was not the only private financial arrangement among the four men. Shortly after they created the group in late 2019, they had agreed to pay themselves millions of dollars in management fees, three people with knowledge of the deal said. … Fresh reporting by The Times found that Mr. Weaver’s inappropriate behavior was brought to the organization’s attention multiple times last year, beginning in January 2020.”