corruption

Trump Asked for $1 Billion to Do Big Oil’s Dirty Work. Meet the Billionaire Making It Happen

Spread the love

Original article by JESSICA CORBETT republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

A climate campaign holds a symbolic wanted poster for Harold “Frackenstein” Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources and one of several individuals characterized by a campaign as a top climate criminal, in New York City on July 22, 2024. (Photo: John Senter/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“Oil barons are bankrolling the Trump campaign because Donald Trump promises to impose their policy ‘wish list’ that will make them even richer,” said the Harris campaign.

“Not familiar with Harold Hamm? You should be.”

That’s according to Washington Post climate policy editor Stuart Leavenworth, who shared the newspaper’s Tuesday reporting on the fossil fuel executive’s relationship with former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the November election.

“This oil tycoon is bringing in millions for Trump,” the editor noted, “and is relaying to Trump what the fossil fuel industry wants.”

The Post‘s Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow revealed in May that during an event in Florida, Trump vowed to gut the Biden administration’s climate regulations if elected in November as long as the oil and gas industry put $1 billion toward his campaign—a revelation that sparked alarm and even congressional investigations.

In Tuesday reporting described by other journalists as ” great” and “important,” the pair exposed how “Hamm, the billionaire founder of Continental Resources, called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets” after the April dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence.

Hamm reportedly described the November contest as “the most important election in our lifetime” and “railed against President Joe Biden’s energy policies.” Following a disastrous debate performance against Trump, the Democratic incumbent passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has since secured her party’s nomination.

Donna Brazille, a political strategist and former Democratic National Committee chair, used the new reporting to compare the candidates. As she put it, “This oil tycoon brings in millions for Trump, and may set his agenda.”

Hamm’s top priorities, according to the Post, are “opening up more federal lands to drilling, easing the Endangered Species Act, and curbing numerous regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Brazille pointed out that “meanwhile, as attorney general in California, Harris prosecuted oil companies for leaks from pipelines and storage tanks, and even sued the Obama administration.”

Harris has quickly garnered support from various organizations concerned about the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency, including some that had declined to endorse Biden. Her running mate is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—a choice widely welcomed by green groups, despite his record on the Line 3 oil pipeline—while Trump picked Big Oil-backed Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

Both Trump and Vance have made clear that if they win, they plan to “drill, baby, drill,” a promise that wealthy figures in the fossil fuel industry seem to be buying. The Post reported that thanks in part to introductions by Hamm, “Trump has now ‘called almost everyone in the sector,”” and “the money has been flowing in,” with the industry contributing over $20.3 million.

Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement that “oil barons are bankrolling the Trump campaign because Donald Trump promises to impose their policy ‘wish list’ that will make them even richer at the expense of the middle class and a healthy future for our children.”

“Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda will give handouts to billionaires, crush jobs, and send costs skyrocketing,” Costello added. “America is more energy independent than ever under the Biden-Harris administration, and Vice President Harris is helping create hundreds of thousands of good paying energy and manufacturing jobs—a boom for working families that Trump would dismantle.”

Hamm—who initially backed two Trump primary challengers: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley—did not respond to the Post‘s requests for comment while the campaign said that Trump “is proud to be supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans.”

More Perfect Unionnoted in response to the Tuesday reporting that Hamm is among dozens of billionaires backing Trump—who is also expected to push tax cuts for rich individuals and corporations if he returns to the White House.

As Sludgedetailed last month, ultrawealthy contributors to the Trump campaign and related groups include casino mogul Miriam Adelson, bankers Andy Beal and Warren Stephens, GOP donors Scott Bessent and Stephen Schwarzman, real estate investor Richard Kurtz, Jimmy John’s founder James J. Liautaud, and crypto industry twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

They are joined by associates of billionaire Elon Musk—who created a pro-Trump super political action committee—and others in the tech industry, including Palmer Luckey, Tom Siebel, and Kenny Trout, as well as “New York City retail and oil refinery owner John Catsimatidis, an old friend of Trump’s who has been a public defender of the former president’s character and public record.”

Original article by JESSICA CORBETT republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingTrump Asked for $1 Billion to Do Big Oil’s Dirty Work. Meet the Billionaire Making It Happen

Morning Star: When it comes to parliamentary politics, money talks

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/when-it-comes-parliamentary-politics-money-talks

A view of the Elizabeth Tower, also known as Big Ben, and the Palace of Westminster, November 5, 2023

…

There appear to be no legal restrictions when it comes to buying, treating or influencing a Westminster MP, other than reporting requirements.

Which brings us to the major source of financial corruption in British politics, namely the donations, directorships and consultancies handed out by capitalist monopoly corporations and their multimillionaire directors.

The source of their wealth is the mental and physical labour performed by their workers. Yet the latter have no say when it comes to corporate donations.

Contrast this to the strict requirements placed on trade unions to seek the consent of their members by secret ballot to make political donations.

Likewise, there should be strict limits on the amount of dosh that millionaires and billionaires can dish out to their hired politicians in any given period.

Perhaps an incoming Labour government could give these matters some serious attention after July 4.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/when-it-comes-parliamentary-politics-money-talks

Continue ReadingMorning Star: When it comes to parliamentary politics, money talks

Conservatives Promote JCB’s ‘Revolutionary’ Pothole Machine While Taking Millions of Pounds in Donations From the Company

Spread the love
Conservatives Promote JCB’s ‘Revolutionary’ Pothole Machine While Taking Millions of Pounds in Donations from the Company

Senior Conservatives have repeatedly promoted a pothole repair machine made by a company which has donated huge sums to the party and its MPs

Conservative politicians have repeatedly promoted a pothole-repairing machine, after their party took millions of pounds in donations from the company that makes it.

Conservative Deputy Chair Jonathan Gullis told MPs in December about his local council’s purchase of the “JCB Pothole Pro”, which he described as “revolutionary”, claiming that it “fixes potholes twice as fast and at half the cost of other machinery”. He also repeated his endorsement on Facebook.

He later went on to register a £10,000 donation from the company.

Other Conservative politicians to endorse the product include the Transport Secretary Mark Harper, who took part in a photo opportunity with JCB and the Pothole Pro last October.

Harper went on to tell MPs in December that “I was lucky enough to visit JCB myself and see the Pothole Pro in action, as well as the innovative work it is doing, as a fantastic world leader in innovation, on some of its hydrogen engines for its mobile off-road machinery.”

…

Boris Johnson stands on JCB machine alongside JCB chairman Lord Bramford during his visit to the new JCB Factory in India in April 2022. Photo: Ben Stansall/ AP

…

Deputy Chairman Jonathan Gullis’ own endorsement of the Pothole Pro came before he declared the acceptance of a £10,000 personal donation from the company, which employs hundreds of people in his constituency.

As Byline Times revealed last week, Gullis accepted the donation just weeks before the company announced it would be closing its warehouse in Stoke on Trent.

…

Another Conservative MP also promoted the ‘Pothole Pro’ after receiving a donation from JCB.

Last week Theo Clarke, who is standing for re-election as the MP for Stafford, posted a series of social media posts referring to JCB and its’ ‘Pothole Pro’ machine, after having previously registered a £5,000 donation from the company in 2020. She did not declare to her followers about her previous funding from the company.

There has been criticisms of the decision by some Conservative councils to purchase the Pothole Pro.

According to the Gloucestershire Live news website, Gloucestershire County Council approved a “last minute” amendment to its budget earlier this year in order to purchase a JCB Pothole Pro, worth an estimated £200,000.

Liberal Democrat Councillor David Willingham raised concerns that the purchase had not been “properly audited for probity reasons” and pointed to criticisms about the effectiveness and value for money of the machines.

Despite the high cost of the machines, the Pothole Pros do not actually fill potholes, but are merely used for preparing the holes to be filled by hand.

…

Continue ReadingConservatives Promote JCB’s ‘Revolutionary’ Pothole Machine While Taking Millions of Pounds in Donations From the Company

COVID Cronyism and Mone – The Tip of the Iceberg: Byline Times’ Full Story of the PPE Cash Carousel 

Spread the love

https://bylinetimes.com/2023/12/20/covid-cronyism-and-mone-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-byline-times-full-story-of-the-ppe-cash-carousel/

This story goes far wider than PPE Medpro and Baroness Michelle Mone Photo: Justin Tallis/PA/Alamy

Byline Times has been unravelling the dealings behind the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the UK since the very early days of the pandemic. Here’s what we learnt – and what we still need answers to…

Within weeks of the first lockdown, Nafeez Ahmed on Byline Times became arguably the first journalist to break the story of the emerging personal protective equipment (PPE) scandal. 

On April 2 2020, he exposed how lucrative contracts were being awarded to Conservative Party associates. 

Boris Johnson’s Government had appointed a giant haulage firm with financial ties to the Tory Party to be in charge of a new supply channel for PPE to the NHS. Its founding executive chairman was Steven N. Parkin, a top Conservative Party donor who has attended exclusive ‘Leaders Group’ meetings and donated almost £1 million to the party in the preceding five years. 

This set the tone for an extensive investigation into COVID-19 contracts, shedding light on a concerning trend of cronyism.

That May, Stephen Delahunty on Byline Times revealed that another Conservative donor was involved in the COVID-19 contracts.

Europa Worldwide Group – the managing director of which was a personal donor to Johnson – was found to be arranging PPE supplies for the NHS and manufacturing testing kits. 

…

In July 2020, Delahunty revealed that companies with no prior experience or expertise were inexplicably receiving multi-million-pound contracts. This was despite the looming threat of legal challenges over what was to be dubbed the ‘VIP Lane’: pathways for firms to win government contracts with little oversight and through referrals from well-connected politicians. 

…

In quick succession, we found that a recruitment firm with just £322 in net assets had received an £18 million Government contract.

…

Things got even weirder that August, when Byline Times revealed the companies linked to the exclusive Plymouth Brethren religious sect which were mopping up huge COVID contracts. And still the warning signs kept flashing, as we dug up dormant firms which emerged from seemingly nowhere to win millions in PPE deals. 

All these contracts could be justified if they were effective in saving lives. But in August 2020, we began to see the true picture: much of the PPE purchased at vast sums couldn’t actually be used. It wasn’t up to scratch. Meanwhile, NHS staff continued to complain of shortages and shoddy equipment.  

…

In 2021, the COVID cash machine just kept giving – to a select few. 

Pulling together a year of evidence, Byline Times and The Citizens revealed that deals worth at least £2 billion had been awarded to top Conservative Party associates during the Coronavirus crisis.

A firm that gave £400,000 to the Conservatives won a £93.8 million PPE deal. The figures being handed to the Plymouth Brethren sect alone hit £1.1 billion. 

And, as before, vast amounts of the PPE were useless. 

…

This newspaper was the first to reveal Mone’s links to the firm – links which were vigorously denied under threat of libel action, but which we now know to have been true. (Mone and PPE Medpro are under investigation by the National Crime Agency but deny any illegality).

It was one of many companies that were referred by Conservative MPs and peers to the expedited ‘VIP Lane’ for PPE contracts during the pandemic. 

PPE Medpro took in the region of £60 million in profits. Much of its PPE was also deemed unusable by the NHS.

Overall, the value lost to dodgy PPE was nearly £9 billion – a quarter of the annual UK budget for housing and the environment put together.

Is there any other country in the world that has witnessed sleaze and scandal on such a scale around COVID contracts?

And did the £200 million-plus COVID ‘bungs’ to the press – the Government’s ‘All in, All Together’ public information campaign subsidising profitable newspapers – help Johnson’s administration get away with it? 

…

COVID Cronyism and Mone – The Tip of the Iceberg: Byline Times’ Full Story of the PPE Cash Carousel 

Image of an iceberg
The tip of the iceberg

Continue ReadingCOVID Cronyism and Mone – The Tip of the Iceberg: Byline Times’ Full Story of the PPE Cash Carousel 

Tories have taken £291,000 in gifts from airports as Sunak eyes runway U-turn

Spread the love

Original article by Adam Bychawski republished from Open Democracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

Donations raise eyebrows with Rishi Sunak expected to reject Climate Change Committee advice on banning expansions

Image of a dirty jet passenger aircraft
A dirty jet passenger aircraft

Airport operators have lavished Britain’s last three prime ministers with VIP services worth more than £200,000 since the 2019 election, analysis by openDemocracy has found.

Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Theresa May are among the Conservative MPs who have accepted more than £275,000 in donations-in-kind from airport operators, while Conservative Party HQ has also taken more than £13,500 in donations from airport operators.

It comes as the government signals its backing for airport expansions, in contrast with advice from its own climate advisers that adding runways to Heathrow and Gatwick would be incompatible with the UK’s net zero goals. The Department of Transport told openDemocracy it was “supportive of airport expansion where it can be delivered in a sustainable way”.

Peter Barclay, the chair of Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, said gifts to the Conservative Party were “all part of the industry’s efforts to oil the government machine in their favour”.

“It makes you very suspicious of politicians,” he said.

Sarah Clayton, coordinator of climate campaign group AirportWatch said: “Rishi Sunak has no interest in the environment, his only interest is keeping the Conservative Party going.

“The airports will use every little trick in the book in order to make sure that the law isn’t changed so they can get their expansion plans through.”

Truss, Johnson and May have accepted tens of thousands of pounds in donations in kind from Heathrow Airport Ltd and Gatwick Airport Ltd in the last four years. Both airports are hoping to open additional runways.

Theresa May alone accepted donations in kind worth more than £183,000 for the use of the VIP Windsor suite at Heathrow Airport a staggering 44 times, according to declarations made on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Heathrow advertises the private suite as a “unique and luxurious service” that includes a chauffeur and dinner prepared by a Michelin starred chef “served by your own personal butler”.

Boris Johnson also used the suite at least 34 times, accepting stays worth £58,000 from the airport, four of them while still in office. In addition, he made use of a VIP suite at Gatwick Airport for him and his family on three occasions after leaving office, a donation in kind worth more than £4,000.

His short-lived successor Liz Truss also made use of VIP suites at Heathrow and Gatwick, accepting 14 stays worth more than £24,000 after resigning as prime minister.

Theresa May accepted donations in kind worth more than £183,000 for the use of the VIP Windsor suite at Heathrow Airport a staggering 44 times

Tory Party HQ also accepted a £12,500 cash donation from London City Airport Ltd just days after it won the 2019 election, according to the Electoral Commission’s records, while Heathrow Airport Ltd made a “non-cash” donation worth the equivalent of £1,680.00 to the party in October 2022. It did not respond to questions about what the donation actually was.

A further six Conservative MPs have accepted gifts worth almost £7,000 in total from London City Airport Ltd since 2019. Orpington MP Gareth Bacon declared in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests that he received tickets to sporting fixtures worth £1,849 from the airport last year, which is the closest to his constituency.

Tory MPs Nigel Evans, Robert Neill, Paul Scully, Kevin Hollinrake and Gagan Mohindra also declared that they had accepted tickets to sporting events from the airport.

London City had an application to increase the size of its terminal refused by Newham Council in July, but has appealed the decision.

Operators of British airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as the Airport Operators Association (AOA), also sponsor the Future of Aviation All-Party Parliamentary Group of MPs by donating £10,000 a year to pay for its secretariat.

Karen Dee, the chief executive of AOA, recently wrote that she had been “working with MPs on the Future of Aviation All Party Parliamentary Group to lobby the prime minister and chancellor to allow airports to establish arrivals duty-free stores and to restore VAT-free shopping for international tourists”.

Original article by Adam Bychawski republished from Open Democracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

Continue ReadingTories have taken £291,000 in gifts from airports as Sunak eyes runway U-turn