Senators and representatives typically use their leadership PACs to raise and spend money in support of their own party’s candidates. It’s a way to establish themselves as leaders within their caucus and earn party leadership positions and plum committee assignments. But one senator is using his leadership PAC somewhat differently.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.V.) made a $10,000 donation on March 11 from his leadership PAC, Country Roads PAC, to Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s (N.C.) legal defense fund. Burr had been facing a Justice Department investigation over whether his sales of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stocks made after receiving a private briefing on the coronavirus threat in early 2020 constituted violations of insider trading laws. The investigation was concluded in January with no charges.
It’s nearly unheard of for a politician to make a leadership PAC donation to a member of the opposing party. Money-in-politics tracking website OpenSecrets writes in its leadership PACs backgrounder that “Democratic leadership PACs are…used to fund fellow Democrats’ campaigns, especially threatened incumbents or challengers trying to win seats that were previously held by the GOP.” Manchin was the only Democrat to make a donation to Burr’s legal defense, according to Sludge’s review of FEC records.
Manchin also donated from Country Roads PAC this year to the campaign of Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (Nev.), the Education Alliance nonprofit, and Ford’s Theater Society.
Country Roads PAC is primarily funded by the PACs of corporations. So far this year it has received donations from more than a dozen corporate PACs, including those affiliated with Dominion Energy ($5,000), Comcast ($5,000), and Boeing ($5,000).
Manchin, a former member of the American Legislative Exchange Committee (ALEC), has taken the unusual step of endorsing the re-election bids of Republicans including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine). He is one of two Senate Democrats who are currently seen as obstructing much of the Democratic agenda that could potentially be passed with 50 votes through budget reconciliation or a filibuster rule exemption, including a package of voting access and campaign finance enhancements.
Manchin and Burr have teamed up on legislation in the past. In 2019, they co-introduced a bill to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from applying the Clean Air Act to American motorsports.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $104,000 in one-time donations and to add 1340 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy