WASHINGTON DC - Illinois' U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, who rails against big business and once compared American soldiers to Nazis, is now raking in tens of thousands of dollars from defense executives.
According to Politico, Durbin, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, and fellow Democrat Jack Reed, reported bringing in $55,700 during the first three months of the year through a shared fundraising committee, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission.
More than half of it — $31,750 — came from individuals identified as employees of big-name defense firms.
Former Raytheon CEO William Swanson contributed $4,000. His successor, Thomas Kennedy, gave $2,000. General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic contributed $2,000. And Textron CEO Scott Donnelly pitched in $1,000.
Durbin is the top recipient of defense industry contributions among all members of Congress this election cycle, having brought in more than $250,000 from corporate political action committees and individual employees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Durbin also reported individual contributions last quarter from a slew of United Technologies executives, including CEO Louis Chênevert, whose company is lobbying to ensure funding for two helicopter programs at risk of being cut out of the Pentagon’s future spending plans.
Durbin also brought in $5,200 from Palantir co-founder Alex Karp, whose firm has waged war against the Army for making it difficult for soldiers downrange in Afghanistan to get their hands on Palantir’s intelligence software.
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