Editor's note: The Center for Public Integrity’s money-in-politics reporting team is bringing you news from the Democratic National Convention — focusing on special-interest influence, big-money politicking and corporate schmoozing. Reporters Michael Beckel and Carrie Levine are on the ground in Philadelphia. Please check back regularly as this article will be updated throughout the week. Click here to read our coverage of the Republican National Convention.
Companies, unions team up with Texas power players for #Texadelphia today at #DemConventionhttps://t.co/QqWXXzeFMJpic.twitter.com/2LZDZUcFqF
— Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) July 25, 2016
A BIT OF THE LONE STAR STATE IN PHILLY
7:00 a.m. Monday, July 25: The Texas Justice and Education Fund is hosting its “Texadelphia Celebration” today, which will honor Democratic Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson and Gene Green, both of Texas, for “continuing the great legacy of President [Lyndon] Johnson” in the area of civil rights and voting rights.
Donations to the Texas Justice and Education Fund, a charity organized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, are tax-deductible for individuals, corporations and labor unions. The group isn’t legally required to disclose its funders, but on its website, it lists several prominent people, labor unions and blue-chip companies as its “sponsors” and “hosts” of the Texadelphia event, which will be held at The Olde Bar in Philadelphia.
Among the corporate bankrollers? Altria, AT&T, Comcast, Microsoft and Southwest Airlines.
Among the unions backing the group? The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the Transport Workers Union.
And among the high-profile individual “sponsors” and “hosts”? Texas lawyer and Hillary Clinton campaign fundraiser Lisa Blue, AT&T lobbyist Lyndon Boozer and Martin Frost, a former Texas congressman who is now a lobbyist at Polsinelli PC.
Jack Martin, the CEO and global chairman of public relations company Hill+Knowlton Strategies, and his wife Patsy Woods Martin— the executive director of Annie’s List, a group that recruits, trains, supports and works to elect progressive women in Texas that support abortion rights — are also listed as “hosts” of the Texadelphia event.
— Michael Beckel
GREENBACKS GET YOU ON THE GREENS
7:41 p.m. Sunday, July 24:Southern Company, Altria, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Abbott Laboratories, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and T-Mobile are some of the corporate interests sponsoring the third annual No Greater Sacrifice Congressional Shoot-Out tomorrow as part of the Democratic National Convention.
Sponsorship packages for the golf tournament, which raises money for charity, range from as little as $15,000 to as much as $100,000, according to promotional materials obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.
Give at least $25,000 and your players will be paired with VIP golfers, like celebrities, wounded service members or members of Congress. Other expected attendees include governors, mayors and lobbyists.
Nine members of Congress are listed as part of the event’s “honorary host committee.” They are Reps. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa.; James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo.; Scott Peters, D-Calif.; and John Yarmuth, D-Ky.; and Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; and Tom Udall, D-N.M.
Last year, the top golfer at the event was Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who recently concluded a congressional investigation into the circumstances around the September 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that left U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead.
— Michael Beckel
LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED...AGAIN
3:20 p.m. Sunday, July 24: The convention committee doesn’t have to reveal its donors until 60 days after the Democratic National Convention, but the Center for Public Integrity has already unearthed some major backers, including a seven-figure contribution from the bricklayers’ union.
Of course, companies are also finding quiet ways to give — such as sponsoring private parties that don’t have to be disclosed, but allow them to rub elbows with lawmakers. Want to see Snoop Dogg? Sorry — invitation only.
For more, check out our story here— and remember, we’ll be on the lookout for special interest influence throughout the convention.
— Carrie Levine