The Wall Street billionaire, who was elected to the “Renaissance” since making the “biggest donation” to Oxford University, contributed to seven of the Republican lawmakers during the campaign during the election campaign that later led to the 2020 election results He backed out at the end of last year and disputed the victory of Joe Biden.
Blackstone Group founder and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman has also financially supported a campaign group – the Georgia, for Kelly Loeffler – who is alleged to have subsequently published a Facebook ad showing the skin of Loeffler’s Democratic rival, Rafael Warnock Turned black.
While Schwarzman has been praised for his philanthropy, donating hundreds of millions of dollars to Oxford, Yale University, MIT and the New York Public Library, financial aid billionaires such as Schwarzman, Richard Euhelin and Jeffrey Yas gave to Trump and other right-wing Republicans. On January 6, the US Capitol is facing fresh scrutiny in light of the violent uprising by Trump supporters.
In the months before Joe Biden’s November election, Trump would not promise a peaceful transfer of power or honor the election results. The former president was impeached – for the second time – on January 6 in the House of Representatives for inciting violence in the Capitol.
Hours after the riots that killed five people, including a police officer, 147 Republicans voted to invalidate the 2020 election.
Public records show that Schwarzman donated $ 33.5m to groups supporting Republicans in the 2020 election cycle, including $ 3m in Trump’s America First Action Pack, a donation he made in January 2020 . Schwarzman had also donated funds to political action committees supporting seven Republicans, who, months later, voted to invalidate the results in Pennsylvania and Arizona, a move that calls for a vote for Blacks and other minority Americans Was seen as a direct relationship, whose support was crucial to Joe Biden’s victory.
According to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, Schwarzman was the third largest individual donor to Republican “actors,” and the eight largest mega-donor in the 2020 election cycle. The late Sheldon Adelson topped the list of mega-donors, followed by two generous donors: Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.
When asked about Schwarzman’s record, former Republican strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, Steve Schmidt, an anti-Trump campaign group vehemently criticizing Republican donors, said: “There are few people who have directly financed more funding to candidates Have given. Are engaged in the poisoning of American democracy. “
Schwarzman himself is no stranger to controversy. In 2010, the CEO apologized for making an “unfair analogy” when he compared Barack Obama’s plan to tax private equity firms to the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939.
In response to questions from the Guardian, a spokesman for Schwarzman insisted that the CEO’s last donation to Trump’s presidential campaign was in January 2020, when the former president was accused of inciting a rebellion, and the two had six. Did not talk much. Month ”.
Schwarzman’s spokesman also emphasized that his assistance was “about matters related to economic policy and trade, not politics”.
But Trump engaged in controversial and racist rhetoric long before January 2020. The documented incidents include the former president’s embrace of barthism, the early defense of his far-right protesters in Charlottesville, his Muslim ban on migrants, migrants from African countries and his dispute from Haiti. From “Sheathole Countries”, he states that the Four Progressive Democratic Congress of Color “go back and help heal the completely broken and crime-ridden places from where they came”, and his close association with his advisers There were relationships that embraced white supremacy.
A spokesman for Schwarzman said: “Of course Steve finds these statements objectionable and disagrees with them. As stated publicly, Steve did not hesitate to weigh in on areas where he disagreed with President Trump. The spokesman said that Schwarzman supported Trump during the Democratic primaries because he believed his “policy and economic agenda was the best path forward”.
While some Billionaires – such as Uline Packaging Company’s Richard Uyhalein – have a record of donating to the most empowered Republican groups, Schwarzman’s record is mixed. Public records show that he had donated mostly to Republicans, who eventually – and acknowledged Biden’s victory, including Jonny Ernst and Rob Portman. He also donated the campaign to Liz Cheney, one of the 10 Republican members of Congress, who voted in the House of Representatives to impeach the president.
A spokesman for Schwarzman reported that other Republican CEO’s donations greatly reduced his donations for Trump.
But Schwarzman has donated in the past to some of Trump’s staunch allies on Capitol Hill, including: Devin Nunes and Andy Harris, who were recently stopped by police from bringing a concealed firearm to the floor of the House of Representatives.
Seven Republicans whose campaign Schwarzman financially supported in 2020 eventually overturned the election results. Those donations were initiated in the 2020 cycle.
In September 2020, Schwarzman also donated $ 5,600 to the Georgians for Kelly Loeffler, the former political committee of the Republican senator. Months later, in December, as Loeffler faced a special election against his Democratic rival, Rafael Warnock, the group published an advertisement on Facebook alleging that Warnock’s skin was blackened. The issue was reported by Salon at the time. Loeffer’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
There is no evidence that Schwarzman had any role in the advertisement or knew of it, or approved or endorsed it.
Schwarzman’s strong allegiance to Trump was recently described in a New York Times article that described the Wall Street financier receiving world leaders in his former role as advisor to the president, including a commitment to invest from Saudi Arabia Had indicated. The article also mentions that Schwarzman weighed in on policy areas where he disagreed with Trump and, according to Blackstone’s aides, asked him to speak out of his more extreme positions. He reportedly called for Dacca to continue, the immigration program that Trump sought to end, and argued but failed to convince Trump to stay in the Paris climate accord.
In the days following the US election in November, a Financial Times report alleged that Schwarzman was privately defending Trump, as others panicked over the former president’s claims that the election had been stolen.
At the time, Blackstone told the FT that “[Schwarzman] There is a belief that the electoral system is sound and that the democratic process will run in a systematic and legal way, as in the history of our country ”.
After the November election, it became clear that control of the US Senate would be determined by two runoff elections in Georgia, where Loeffler and fellow Republican David Perdue faced off against two Democratic opponents.
On 9 November, as Georgia tipped in Biden’s favor after the November election, two Republican senators in Georgia called for the resignation of Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, making the baseless claim that the official, Brad Raffensper, “Honest and failed to deliver” transparent elections “.
Billionaires, including Rupert Murdoch, began donating to the Republican-controlled Senate Leadership Fund to increase Loeffler and Purdue’s campaigns. The largest was Schwarzman’s $ 15m donation, which was recorded in public documents on November 12, three days after Loeffler and Purdue challenged Rafensper. Loeffler would later appear on stage with rising writing star Marjorie Taylor Green, a newly elected Georgia congressman who holds the QAnon conspiracy theories.
Then on November 23, three weeks after the election, Schwarzman issued a statement stating that Biden had won. He said: “In my comments three days after the election, I was trying to articulate a reason and reason why all Americans believe that the election is being resolved correctly is in the national interest. But today the result is very definite, and the country should move forward. “
He pledged to help the new Democratic president “rebuild our post-Kovid economy”.
On 6 January, Schwarzman issued another public statement in response to the riot in the Capitol, stating that he “was shocked and horrified by the mob’s attempt to weaken our constitution … the election result is very clear and one There should be a peaceful transition. Of strength “.
A spokesman for Schwarzman said: “Steve made it clear in a public statement in November that long before January’s Electoral College certification, that President Joe Biden won the election and was ready to help the new president in any way he could. .This was followed by a deep personal statement after President Trump’s remarks on January 6 expressing his horror and disgust at the horrific rebellion.
The spokesman said: “Steve has been a lifelong Republican and his last donation to the campaign was January 2020, before President Biden won a single primary. As Steve’s previous statement makes clear, he attempts to undermine our Constitution Strongly condemns it. “
The Guardian asked Oxford, Yale and MIT to comment on Schwarzman’s record of support for Trump and his political donations. Only one institution – Yale, where Schwarzman attended university and donated $ 150m – defended Schwarzman’s political activity.
“Mr. Schwarzman did not stand by Trump through his rejection of the election results. On November 23, Mr. Schwarzman stated that the election result was clear and that he was ready to help President Biden and his team to rebuild our economy. On 6 January, like other heads of corporations, he condemned the violence in the Capitol, ”said a Yale spokesman.
An Oxford spokesman specifically declined to comment on Schwarzman’s record of political donations.
An Oxford spokesman said: “Mr. Schwarzman has been endorsed by our rigorous due diligence procedures that consider ethical, legal, financial and reputational issues. All decisions about donations are made by the University’s committee to review donations and research grants, whose members include Oxford academics with expertise in relevant areas such as ethics, law and business. “
Schwarzman’s £ 150m gift to Oxford, unveiled in 2019, will be used to build the Schwarzman Center for the Humanities, including a building that bears the full name of the private equity executive.
A MIT spokesperson, who received $ 250m from Schwarzman, did not comment on questions about Schwarzman’s values or his political donations, but said: “What brings our community together is mutual respect and science, Commitment to technological innovation, and discovery is knowledge. “
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