Money speaks volumes in electoral politics. After all, the more money one raises, the more ads and greater presence he or she has during a campaign. In October, TheBlaze covered five of the biggest donors to both the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaign efforts. At the time, we reported that 79-year-old casino magnate Sheldon Adelson had given more than $34 million to the Republican candidate and his associated political action committees.
By far the largest donor during the 2012 election cycle, Adelson pledged to give up to $100 million to see that Obama was defeated. Now, in the wake of the president's re-election victory, two Republican sources close to the businessman claim that he not only met his fiscal pledge, but that he exceeded it by $50 million. According to the these unnamed fundraisers, the billionaire gave a whopping $150 million toward Romney's electoral efforts.
US business magnate Sheldon Adelson speaks on the phone after attending the first presidential debate between US President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Denver, Colorado on October 3, 2012. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
Of this sum, Adelson donated $54 million to super PACs. Additionally, he gave between $30 million and $40 million to Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and an additional $15 million to projects with associations to Charles and David Koch. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce received $5 million and the Republican Jewish Coalition received a large chunk (in fact, Adelson funded the majority of the group's $6.5 million budget).
Considering his monumental investment and the alleged sum, one would naturally wonder what would spawn such expenditures. According to sources -- and comments from Adelson himself -- fears over investigations into his business affairs and worries that Obama would retaliate against people who opposed the president were both part of the catalyst for his giving.
This Sept. 21, 2012 file photo shows casino owner Sheldon Adelson in Las Vegas. Credit: AP
The Huffington Post has more:
Adelson, a fierce critic of Obama’s foreign and domestic policies, has said that his humongous spending was spurred chiefly by his fear that a second Obama term would bring "vilification of people that were against him." As that second term begins, Adelson's international casino empire faces a rough road, with two federal criminal investigations into his business.This coming week, Adelson plans to visit Washington, according to three separate GOP sources familiar with his travel schedule. While here, he’s arranged Hill meetings with at least one House GOP leader in which he is expected to discuss key issues, including possible changes to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the anti-bribery law that undergirds one federal probe into his casino network, according to a Republican attorney with knowledge of his plans.
During the election, Adelson told Politico that the Justice Department investigation, and the way he felt treated by prosecutors, was a primary motivation for his investment in Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and other GOP candidates.
While $150 million may seem like an unimaginably-large sum of money, it is hardly a chunk of the estimated $20.5 billion that Adelson has accumulated. Read more about the casino magnate's 2012 electoral spending spree here.
(H/T: Huffington Post)
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