Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from Comcast Corp.’s chief executive on Wednesday morning, and many of them, including every single Democrat on the committee has directly received money from the cable giant.
Comcast has announced plans to purchase rival Time Warner Cable, and the merger is raising eyebrows due to the near complete control it would give the company in many media markets.
All but three of the senators in the committee holding the hearing have received campaign contributions from Comcast since the 2008 election cycle, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) has taken at least $24,500 since 2008, including $22,500 during the 2010 cycle in which he was up for reelection.
Even Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii), who has been on the committee for just over a year, has received money from Comcast.
Here are the Democrats, ranked by seniority on the committee, and the amount of money they have received directly from Comcast since 2008.
- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.): $25,500;
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.): $12,025;
- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.): $41,600
- Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.): $34,600;
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.): $22,831;
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.): $32,373;
- Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.): $14,750;
- Sen. Chris Coons: (D., Del.): $59,200;
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.): $18,000;
- Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii): $1,000
The Republican senators on the committee are not an exemption. All but Sens. Mike Lee (R., Utah), Ted Cruz (R., Texas), and Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) have taken money from Comcast, though the numbers are less staggering.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa): $13,000;
- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah): $36,750;
- Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.): $5,200;
- Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.): $6,000;
- Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas): $18,000