After Capitol Riot “Pause”, Arms Companies Are Showering Money On Both Sides Of Aisle Again

Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com,

Political rancor and tensions surround the 2020 election had many US companies trying to distance themselves from the process by halting political donations. This included one of the biggest sectors for buying influence, the arms industry.

After a few months to reexamine things, the arms companies are back to throwing money around, donating in large quantities to members of both parties involved in military spending, and trying to ensure that they stay on good terms with everyone responsible for their business’ contracts.

While it isn’t shocking that the post-election pause didn’t last, it is noteworthy that some of the biggest donations are going to some in Congress who were big proponents of the “stolen election” narrative, despite that supposedly driving those companies to hold off in the first place.

Recall what BAE systems previously pledged:

“In response to the deeply disturbing violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, our U.S. political action committee has suspended all donations while we assess the path forward,” BAE Systems spokeswoman Tammy Thorp said in a statement at the time.

In reality, it seems that the Biden Administration and Congress have been signaling that the massive military spending part of the status quo will remain more or less untouched, and that seems to be all the companies needed to hear to start the spigot on their donations again.

One Third of Biden’s Pentagon Transition Team Hails From Organizations Financed by the Weapons Industry @inthesetimesmag https://t.co/ts518OkxAg

— Rachel Pirani (@Liberty5380) November 12, 2020

Military analysis site Defense News details that “Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Leidos and BAE are all giving again, while Honeywell, General Electric, Raytheon and Booz Allen Hamilton are not giving, according to their most recent filings.”

And further: “Honeywell and GE had said they would suspend donations to the 147 members of Congress who voted against certifying Biden’s win.” In terms of these latter companies, we’ll see just how long that actually lasts.