Here’s How Much Facebook Donated to Every Lawmaker Questioning Mark Zuckerberg

By Sarah Jeong and Shannon Liao

April 11, 2018 "Information Clearing House" -  Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is testifying before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce today, fresh off the heels of a grueling five-hour joint session before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees yesterday. In total, Zuckerberg will face questions from nearly 100 legislators, and many of those legislators have received thousands of dollars from the company Zuckerberg runs.

Over the last 12 years, Facebook has spent $7 million in campaign contributions. Historically, Facebook has donated slightly more to Democrats than Republicans, but overall, the platform’s political footprint is small in Washington, DC relative to its market cap, which is currently calculated at about $400 billion. That’s not unusual for technology companies: Amazon spent $4 million in campaign contributions over 20 years, and it has a market cap of nearly $700 billion. (Note, however, that Alphabet, Inc., with a market cap just over Amazon’s, appears to be outspending Facebook in DC by an order of magnitude.)

According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, since 2014, Facebook has contributed a total of $641,685 to the members of Congress that Zuckerberg is facing this week. The top recipients of that money include Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA).

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The amount of money received didn’t necessarily correlate to the hostility of questions asked by the legislators in Zuckerberg’s first hearing. That said, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) did make a somewhat bizarre pro-Facebook comment, saying, “Some have professed themselves shocked, shocked that companies like Google and Facebook share user data with advertisers. Did any of these individuals stop to ask themselves why Google and Facebook don’t charge for access? Nothing in life is free.” Hatch has taken $15,200 from Facebook since 2014 — the sixth largest amount on the combined committees.

But other senators who have received even larger campaign contributions from Facebook didn’t hold back. Cory Booker, who has received $44,025 from Facebook since 2014 (the largest amount), questioned Zuckerberg on the 2016 ProPublica investigation that showed Facebook allowed advertisers to target by race. Kamala Harris, who took the second largest amount ($30,990) grilled the CEO on why Facebook did not notify users in 2015 that Cambridge Analytica had misused their data, causing Zuckerberg to squirm uncomfortably.

If any senators pulled their punches, it was along party lines, when small-government Republicans like Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) or Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) questioned the necessity of additional regulation. At one point Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) held up a tablet and pointed at the Facebook “privacy” tab, blaming individuals for not properly reviewing their own settings. Wicker has received $10,000 from Facebook since 2014, Tillis has received $7,500, and Sullivan has received a whopping $2,500.

The campaign contributions from Facebook to all the legislators who posed Mark Zuckerberg questions this week are listed below. The list includes the members of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees and House Committee on Energy and Commerce are listed in full below, and dates back to 2014.


Committee Leaders

Legislator Committee Role Party 2014 Cycle 2016 Cycle 2018 Cycle Total 2014-2018
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) Senate Judiciary Chairman R $1,000 $4,000 $0 $5,000
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) Senate Judiciary Ranking Minority Member D $10,000 $1,000 $0 $11,000
Thune, John (R-SD) Senate Commerce Chairman R $3,500 $5,000 $2,000 $10,500
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) Senate Commerce Ranking Minority Member D $2,500 $5,000 $2,500 $10,000
Walden, Greg (R-OR) House Energy & Commerce Chairman R $7,500 $7,000 $5,500 $20,000
Pallone, Frank (D-NJ) House Energy & Commerce Ranking Minority Member D $3,500 $0 $2,500 $6,000
Source: Center for Responsive Politics

 

Senate

SENATOR PARTY COMMITTEE 2014 Cycle 2016 Cycle 2018 Cycle Total 2014-2018
Booker, Cory (D-NJ) D Judiciary $42,000 $0 $2,025 $44,025
Harris, Kamala (D-CA) D Judiciary N/A $28,275 $2,715 $30,990
Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) D Judiciary $2,500 $13,900 $0 $16,400
Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN) D Commerce, Judiciary $2,500 $8,200 $5,200 $15,900
Hatch, Orrin (R-UT) R Judiciary $9,200 $4,000 $2,000 $15,200
Heller, Dean (R-NV) R Commerce $3,000 $2,500 $8,900 $14,400
Blunt, Roy (R-MO) R Commerce $0 $14,100 $0 $14,100
Lee, Mike (R-UT) R Commerce, Judiciary $2,500 $11,000 $0 $13,500
Blumenthal, Richard (D-CT) D Commerce, Judiciary $6,000 $7,200 $0 $13,200
Schatz, Brian (D-HI) D Commerce $2,500 $10,000 $0 $12,500
Gardner, Cory (R-CO) R Commerce $0 $4,000 $7,900 $11,900
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) D Judiciary $2,500 $0 $8,935 $11,435
Udall, Tom (D-NM) D Commerce $10,000 $1,000 $0 $11,000
Thune, John (R-SD) R Commerce $3,500 $5,000 $2,000 $10,500
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) D Commerce $2,500 $5,000 $2,500 $10,000
Tester, Jon (D-MT) D Commerce $0 $5,000 $5,000 $10,000
Cornyn, John (R-TX) R Judiciary $5,000 $5,000 $0 $10,000
Fischer, Deb (R-NE) R Commerce $2,500 $5,000 $2,500 $10,000
Wicker, Roger (R-MS) R Commerce $0 $2,500 $7,500 $10,000
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) D Commerce $0 $0 $9,100 $9,100
Coons, Christopher (D-DE) D Judiciary $5,000 $2,500 $0 $7,500
Flake, Jeff (R-AZ) R Judiciary $5,000 $2,500 $0 $7,500
Moran, Jerry (R-KS) R Commerce $2,500 $5,000 $0 $7,500
Tillis, Thom (R-NC) R Judiciary $0 $5,000 $2,500 $7,500
Johnson, Ron (R-WI) R Commerce $1,000 $5,000 $0 $6,000
Hirono, Mazie (D-HI) D Judiciary $0 $0 $5,200 $5,200
Peters, Gary (D-MI) D Commerce $0 $5,000 $0 $5,000
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) R Judiciary $1,000 $4,000 $0 $5,000
Sasse, Ben (R-NE) R Judiciary $0 $2,500 $2,500 $5,000
Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI) D Commerce $0 $0 $3,535 $3,535
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) R Judiciary $3,500 $0 $0 $3,500
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI) D Judiciary $0 $2,000 $1,000 $3,000
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) R Judiciary $2,500 $0 $0 $2,500
Sullivan, Dan (R-AL) R Commerce $0 $0 $2,500 $2,500
Young, Todd (R-IN) R Commerce N/A $0 $2,500 $2,500
Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV) R Commerce $0 $1,000 $1,000 $2,000
Duckworth, Tammy (D-IL) D Commerce N/A $0 $1,000 $1,000
Durbin, Dick (D-IL) D Judiciary $0 $0 $0 $0
Hassan, Maggie (D-NH) D Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0
Markey, Ed (D-MA) D Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0
Masto, Catherine Cortez (D-NV) D Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0
Cruz, Ted (R-TX) R Commerce, Judiciary $0 $0 $0 $0
Inhofe, Jim (R-OK) R Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0
Kennedy, John (R-LA) R Judiciary N/A $0 $0 $0
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics

 

House of Representatives

REPRESENTATIVE PARTY 2014 Cycle 2016 Cycle 2018 Cycle Total 2014-2018
Eshoo, Anna (D-CA) D $17,800 $18,100 $3,900 $39,800
Walden, Greg (R-OR) R $7,500 $7,000 $5,500 $20,000
Scalise, Steve (R-LA) R $10,000 $7,000 $2,500 $19,500
Shimkus, John (R-IL) R $4,000 $8,000 $2,000 $14,000
Upton, Fred (R-MI) R $12,000 $0 $2,000 $14,000
Degette, Diana (D-CO) D $4,000 $4,000 $1,000 $9,000
Guthrie, Brett (R-KY) R $3,500 $3,000 $2,500 $9,000
Kinzinger, Adam (R-IL) R $3,000 $3,000 $2,500 $8,500
Welch, Peter (D-VT) D $2,500 $4,000 $2,000 $8,500
Matsui, Doris (D-CA) D $2,000 $4,000 $2,000 $8,000
Blackburn, Marsha (R-TN) R $4,500 $3,000 $0 $7,500
Walters, Mimi (R-CA) R $0 $4,500 $3,000 $7,500
Olson, Pete (R-TX) R $1,000 $4,000 $1,500 $6,500
Burgess, Michael (R-TX) R $0 $5,000 $1,000 $6,000
Long, Billy (R-MO) R $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $6,000
Lujan, Ben (D-NM) D $2,000 $3,000 $1,000 $6,000
Pallone, Frank (D-NJ) D $3,500 $0 $2,500 $6,000
Butterfield, G.K. (D-NC) D $0 $4,500 $1,000 $5,500
Latta, Robert (R-OH) R $0 $0 $5,000 $5,000
Rodgers, Cathy McMorris (R-WA) R $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $4,500
Cárdenas, Tony (D-CA) D $1,000 $2,000 $1,000 $4,000
Clarke, Yvette (D-NY) D $0 $3,000 $1,000 $4,000
Hudson, Richard (R-NC) R $0 $2,500 $1,500 $4,000
Kennedy, Joseph (D-MA) D $0 $3,000 $1,000 $4,000
Ruiz, Raul (D-CA) D $2,000 $750 $1,000 $3,750
Cramer, Kevin (R-ND) R $0 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000
Johnson, Bill (R-OH) R $1,500 $1,500 $0 $3,000
Mcnerney, Jerry (D-CA) D $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $3,000
Rush, Bobby (D-IL) D $1,000 $2,000 $0 $3,000
Schrader, Kurt (D-OR) D $0 $2,000 $1,000 $3,000
Costello, Ryan (R-PA) R $0 $0 $2,750 $2,750
Collins, Chris (R-NY) R $0 $1,500 $1,000 $2,500
Peters, Scott (D-CA) D $0 $1,500 $1,000 $2,500
Brooks, Susan (R-IN) R $0 $2,000 $0 $2,000
Bucshon, Larry (R-IN) R $0 $2,000 $0 $2,000
Doyle, Michael (D-PA) D $0 $0 $2,000 $2,000
Griffith, Morgan (R-VA) R $0 $2,000 $0 $2,000
Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK) R $0 $500 $1,000 $1,500
Bilirakis, Gus (R-FL) R $0 $1,000 $0 $1,000
Carter, Buddy (R-GA) R $0 $1,000 $0 $1,000
Dingell, Debbie (D-MI) D $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000
Duncan, Jeff (R-SC) R $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000
Flores, Bill (R-TX) R $0 $1,000 $0 $1,000
Green, Gene (D-TX) D $0 $1,000 $0 $1,000
Harper, Gregg (R-MS) R $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000
Sarbanes, John (D-MD) D $0 $1,000 $0 $1,000
Barton, Joe (R-TX) R $0 $0 $0 $0
Castor, Kathy (D-FL) D $0 $0 $0 $0
Engel, Eliot (D-NY) D $0 $0 $0 $0
Lance, Leonard (R-NJ) R $0 $0 $0 $0
Loebsack, David (D-IA) D $0 $0 $0 $0
McKinley, David (R-WV) R $0 $0 $0 $0
Schakowsky, Janice (D-IL) D $0 $0 $0 $0
Tonko, Paul (D-NY) D $0 $0 $0 $0
Walberg, Tim (R-MI) R $0 $0 $0 $0
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics

This article was originally published by "The Verge" -

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