Adelson Gives $30 Million To Help GOP Save The House
Image by Courtesy of This World
Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has given $30 million to the House GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund, a large sum that top Republicans hope will boost the party’s electoral outlook in November, Politico reported on Thursday.
House Speaker Paul Ryan flew to Las Vegas to meet with the billionaire at his Venetian Hotel, according to two senior Republicans.
After speaking with Adelson, Ryan, who is not permitted to solicit seven-figure political donations as a federally elected official, left the room, leaving behind top Republican officials, including Norm Coleman, the former Minnesota senator who chairs the Republican Jewish Coalition; Corry Bliss, who oversees the super PAC; and Jake Kastan, Ryan’s No. 2 political aide. Coleman secured the contribution.
Coleman would not discuss his Adelson dealings with Politico, and CLF did not respond to Politico’s requests for comment. The contribution will become public later this month in the organization’s campaign finance filing.
The $30 million contribution is three times as much as Adelson gave to CLF in 2016. And it comes much earlier in the cycle: In 2016, Adelson gave CLF $10 million in August, as the campaign headed into the homestretch.
Party officials have been paying Adelson their respects all year. In February, a number of House Republicans made their annual sojourn to Las Vegas to attend the annual retreat hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition, an organization that Adelson helps to fund. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) addressed the conference, and Ryan spoke by teleconference to a meeting of the group’s board.
Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
