$210 Million From Companies That Saw Federal Cases Dropped
Public Citizen reports that companies, executives and investors who benefited from canceled federal enforcement actions gave or pledged $210.5 million to Trump-aligned super PACs.
Companies that benefited when the Trump administration dropped federal enforcement actions, along with their executives and investors, have given or pledged $210.5 million to super PACs aligned with President Donald Trump, according to a report released Oct. 8 by the watchdog group Public Citizen.
The money went to MAGA Inc., Keep America Great and America PAC, which is controlled by Elon Musk, according to Public Citizen.
The group said the administration has canceled 212 federal enforcement actions involving 205 corporations. Those include 80 investigations, 67 dismissed enforcement lawsuits and 54 canceled accountability measures, Public Citizen reported.
Examples cited
Public Citizen pointed to several donors:
- Tesla and SpaceX, both led by Musk, each benefited from four canceled actions, according to the report. Musk pledged $100 million to help elect Republicans in the 2026 midterms, largely through America PAC, and gave $5 million to MAGA Inc., Public Citizen said.
- Crypto.com benefited when the Securities and Exchange Commission canceled an investigation into allegations that it traded unregistered securities, the group reported. The company gave $35 million to MAGA Inc. and $2 million to Keep America Great.
- Gemini benefited from a dropped SEC investigation into alleged trading of unregistered securities, according to the report. The company gave $20 million to MAGA Inc., and co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss each gave $10 million personally.
- Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz gave $12 million to MAGA Inc., Public Citizen reported. Nine corporations that benefited from canceled actions are in the firm's investment portfolio, the group said.
Public Citizen links the findings to its Corporate Enforcement Tracker, an online database of canceled federal enforcement actions against corporations.
Watchdog's view
Robert Weissman, Public Citizen's co-president, described the donors as "Corporations and ultra-wealthy executives with enormous financial interests before the federal government."
"Once the check is cashed, the administration is pulling back enforcement actions meant to punish corporate misconduct," Weissman said in the group's announcement.
Rick Claypool, Public Citizen's research director and the report's author, said "the potential is limitless when companies and the wealthy people behind them can give millions of dollars," according to the group's release.
The progressive news site Common Dreams also reported on the findings Oct. 8, saying corporations that benefited from the enforcement rollback had put about $200 million into MAGA Inc.