America First Action, a super PAC that's among the largest such groups supporting President Donald Trump, is now reportedly $1 million dollars richer thanks to a disclosed donation from one Jeff Sprecher. On its own, that might not seem that unusual, but the donation is drawing criticism since it came just weeks after Sprecher's wife, Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler, faced allegations of insider trading over large amounts of stock she sold off before the market crashed due to increasing coronavirus anxieties.
Loeffler has denied any wrongdoing and says that the stocks were sold without any input from her, the suspicious timing (having occurred after a confidential briefing on the potential effects of COVID-19 in January) nothing more than a coincidence. But you can expect reports of Sprecher's donation – which Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center recently tweeted is "his biggest contribution ever" – to reignite the scrutiny that Loeffler and several other US senators faced over their large sales of stock right before the market saw its first steep coronavirus-related drop.
The donation took place on April 29th, but filings with the Federal Election Commission are only now bringing it to light. Below you can see part of that filing, courtesy of Fischer:
Brendan Fischer
Sprecher is the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, and made the donation as his wife faces what Politico calls "tough intraparty challenge" for her Senate seat, from fellow Republican Doug Collins. Both candidates along with several Democrats will be on the ballot in November, and if none of them manage to get at least 50 percent of the vote that will be followed by a run-off between the top two candidates. Loeffler, who is currently the wealthiest member of Congress, has given $10 million of her own money over to her campaign so far and has promised to provide even more funding between now and November.
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