House Hypocrats 'Circumvent' Anti-Corporate PAC Pledge

House Democrats are accepting thousands of dollars from big business lobbyists, despite pledging not to accept corporate PAC donations.

Of the 43 House Democrats that have disavowed corporate PAC money, a large number have taken personal donations from corporate lobbyists or have allowed such individuals to host fundraisers on their behalf, as first reported by Politico.

On of those Democrats, freshman congressman Gil Cisneros (Calif.), permitted lobbyists representing international conglomerates like AT&T, Microsoft, Comcast, Pfizer, Verizon, and Wells Fargo to host a fundraiser on his behalf in March. The event netted Cisneros a total of $15,000 as he gears up to seek re-election in a prime swing seat next year.

The top-dollar donations are nothing new for Cisneros. During his 2018 campaign, Cisneros took the money even though he campaigned on ending the "corrosive" impact of special interest spending on "democracy."

"I will not accept any PAC money to my campaign….We need to do much more to get corporate money out of politics," Cisneros said shortly after announcing his campaign in 2017.

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