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
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
