The millionaires, billionaires and companies giving big sums to political committees supporting Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama have important business with the next president.
Some already are in trouble with the government. Some are pressing for laws or regulations that would benefit their interests in energy, mining and high finance.
The Associated Press reviewed financial reports, regulatory filings, court records, public statements and more to identify favors the biggest donors so far in the presidential campaign might want in return for contributions of $100,000 or more. Some donors have given $1 million or more to help Obama's challengers or the president.
Among AP's findings:
- An energy company run by William Koch, a $1 million donor to the pro-Romney political committee, paid to lobby Congress on mining and safety issues and also over a proposed federal land swap that would enlarge the donor's Colorado ranch.
- The casino company run by Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire whose family has given $11 million to Gingrich's political committee, has acknowledged it's under federal criminal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company denies wrongdoing and says the investigation stems from an allegation by a disgruntled employee. Adelson's family has provided nearly all the money the pro-Gingrich group has received.
- A hedge fund run by a New York investor, Paul Singer, who gave the pro-Romney group $1 million, has pushed for federal laws that would give official U.S. backing to the firm's legal efforts to profit from the debt of distressed and Third World nations.
- A board member and former chairman of a prestigious Los Angeles hospital, John C. Law of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, has given the pro-Obama committee $100,000 as the hospital has lobbied Obama's administration over Medicare and Medicaid funding for teaching hospitals and electronic medical records, the National Institutes of Health and Army research programs.
- A Pennsylvania coal producer, Consol Energy Inc., which donated $150,000 to the pro-Romney group, paid a $5.5 million fine last year for violations of the Clean Water Act at six of its mines. It is lobbying to prohibit the federal government from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
The presidential campaigns all said they do not trade political favors for election money.
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