Capitol siege shines spotlight on 'information crisis'

New York (CNN Business)Some of America’s biggest companies are suspending donations to Republican Congress members who objected to the Electoral College’s votes.

The growing list of those corporations, including BlueCross BlueShield, Citigroup (C), Commerce Bank and Marriott (MAR), comes after a pro-Trump mob breached the US Capitol last Wednesday to fight against the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
147 Republicans voted against certification of the electoral votes in a joint session of Congress last Wednesday evening. They included Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, among hundreds other congress members.
“At the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, we continuously evaluate our political contributions to ensure that those we support share our values and goals,” said Kim Keck, BlueCross BlueShield’s president and CEO, in a statement. “In light of this week’s violent, shocking assault on the United States Capitol, and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November’s election by challenging Electoral College results, BCBSA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy.”
The health insurance company’s BLUEPAC political action committee — supported only by employee contributions — donated $246,750 to Republican lawmakers during the 2020 cycle. That included $10,000 to Sen. Tuberville, $1,000 to Sen. Marshall and $500 to Sen. Hawley.

BlueCross BlueShield said it’s stopping donations to all 147 Republicans who challenged the Electoral College results.
Commerce Bank said it, too, is halting its PAC contributions to officials it says “have impeded the peaceful transfer of power.” The bank donated a total of $49,750 to Republicans during the 2020 cycle, which included $2,500 to Sen. Marshall.
“Commerce Bank condemns violence in any form and believes the actions witnessed this week are abhorrent, anti-democratic and entirely contrary to supporting goodwill for Americans and businesses.
Marriott is following suit by suspending its PAC donations to lawmakers who opposed election results.
“We have taken the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election into consideration and will be pausing political giving from our Political Action Committee to those who voted against certification of the election,” the company said in a statement.
In an internal memo to employees on Friday, Citigroup said it would temporarily suspend all political giving from its PAC in the first quarter, referred to as the Citi PAC. The company also denounced candidates “who do not respect the rule of the law.”
Citi noted that of the legislators who contested the electoral college vote certification, Citigroup’s PAC had given $1,000 to Sen. Hawley in 2019.
“We intend to pause our contributions during the quarter as the country goes through the Presidential transition and hopefully emerges from these events stronger and more united,” said Candi Wolff, managing director and head of global government affairs, in the memo.
Since the Capitol riots, a large number of companies and business leaders have come forward to condemn the violence that ensued in Washington, with some calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment. Social media platforms such as Facebook (FB) and Instagram have banned President Trump from posting to his accounts for at least the remainder of his term in office — 9 days — or indefinitely. Twitter has permanently banned Trump from from its platform.
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