

Facebook lobbyists have donated nearly $600,000 since 2013 to the lawmakers who questioned company CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis shows.

In 2017, Facebook hired 30 outside lobbyists who alone gave $148,000 last year to the Senate and House committee members who heard Zuckerberg’s testimony. Another 11 in-house lobbyists donated $11,800 during the company’s year in crisis.

Only nine of the 91 committee members have not received contributions to their campaigns or leadership PACs from those lobbyists since the 2014 cycle, data shows.

Facebook employees have also donated over $640,000 to various committee members over the same period, The Verge reported based on data from OpenSecrets.

Lobbyists donating to lawmakers’ reelection campaigns while simultaneously meeting with them to influence public policy is legal – and growing in popularity.

Going back to 2007, current Facebook lobbyists have been responsible for over $5.5 million in political donations to federal candidates, leadership PACs, and party committees. That includes $3.1 million from the lobbying firm Subject Matter, one of 10 firms hired by Facebook last year.

Zuckerberg faced questioning this week from the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees as well as the House Energy and Commerce in the wake of Russian ad buys and the scraping of user data by the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Help us keep government accountable by making a donation today.

Since 2013, the chair and ranking minority members on the committees have received roughly $80,000 from current Facebook lobbyists, according to an OpenSecrets analysis, including $20,250 to Greg Walden (R-Ore.), House Energy and Commerce chair.

Democrat Bill Nelson of Florida, the Senate Commerce’s ranking minority member, has received $17,500, including $15,000 since January 2017. Senate Democrat Dianne Feinstein, the only ranking member from Facebook’s home state of California, has received only $500. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has collected $15,250, but none in the 2018 cycle.

Facebook Lobbyist Contributions to House/Senate Committee Leadership

Member Committee Role Party 2014 Cycle 2016 Cycle 2018 Cycle 2013-2018 Greg Walden (R-Ore) Energy & Commerce Chairman R $4,750 $7,000 $8,500 $20,250 Bill Nelson (D-Fla) Commerce Ranking Member D $0 $2,500 $15,000 $17,500 Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) Judiciary Chairman R $2,750 $12,500 $0 $15,250 Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) Energy & Commerce Ranking Member D $9,000 $4,250 $1,000 $14,250 Joe Barton (R-Texas) Energy &Commerce Vice Chair R $1,500 $2,000 $1,531 $5,031 Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) Judiciary Ranking Member D $0 $0 $500 $500

Data includes contributions from lobbyists who represented Facebook in 2017 to the campaigns and leadership PACs of the leaders from the Senate Judiciary, Senate Commerce, and House Energy & Commerce committees.

In 2017, Facebook spent $11.5 million lobbying Congress and its employees made over $800,000 in political contributions.

The $160,000 donated by Facebook lobbyists to the congressional committees so far this cycle is about 88 percent of what the same lobbyists donated in the entire 2014 cycle.

Only one of the 30 outside lobbyists represented just Facebook, however, so it’s difficult to pin the contributions to the lobbyists’ role with the company.

In November and December, however, nearly one-third of the $53,000 donated by Facebook lobbyists to 2018 candidates, leadership PACs and party committees went to members of the Senate and House committees.

Facebook Lobbyist Contributions to House Committee Members

Member Party Committee 2014 Cycle 2016 Cycle 2018 Cycle 2013-2018 Fred Upton (R-Mich) R Energy and Commerce $8,950 $6,900 $6,000 $21,850 Gene Green (D-Texas) D Energy and Commerce $5,500 $10,400 $3,000 $18,900 Tony Cardenas (D-Calif) D Energy and Commerce $5,000 $8,500 $3,000 $16,500 Steve Scalise (R-La) R Energy and Commerce $4,500 $6,750 $2,600 $13,850 Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass) D Energy and Commerce $2,500 $5,000 $6,000 $13,500 John M Shimkus (R-Ill) R Energy and Commerce $2,000 $7,700 $3,231 $12,931 Raul Ruiz (D-Calif) D Energy and Commerce $4,600 $3,750 $2,000 $10,350 Scott Peters (D-Calif) D Energy and Commerce $3,000 $1,750 $3,000 $7,750 Leonard Lance (R-NJ) R Energy and Commerce $4,250 $3,000 $0 $7,250 Doris O Matsui (D-Calif) D Energy and Commerce $1,500 $3,000 $500 $5,000 Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill) R Energy and Commerce $0 $2,500 $2,000 $4,500 Ben R Lujan (D-NM) D Energy and Commerce $3,500 $1,000 $0 $4,500 Mimi Walters (R-Calif) R Energy and Commerce $0 $1,000 $3,500 $4,500 Ryan Costello (R-Pa) R Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $4,000 $4,000 Chris Collins (R-NY) R Energy and Commerce $0 $1,500 $1,531 $3,031 Robert E Latta (R-Ohio) R Energy and Commerce $500 $250 $2,000 $2,750 Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) R Energy and Commerce $1,500 $1,250 $0 $2,750 Kurt Schrader (D-Ore) D Energy and Commerce $250 $2,500 $0 $2,750 Michael Burgess (R-Texas) R Energy and Commerce $0 $1,000 $1,500 $2,500 Pete Olson (R-Texas) R Energy and Commerce $500 $1,500 $0 $2,000 Debbie Dingell (D-Mich) D Energy and Commerce $500 $1,000 $0 $1,500 Billy Long (R-Mo) R Energy and Commerce $1,000 $0 $500 $1,500 David McKinley (R-WVa) R Energy and Commerce $500 $0 $1,000 $1,500 Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla) R Energy and Commerce $0 $1,000 $500 $1,500 Larry Bucshon (R-Ind) R Energy and Commerce $1,000 $0 $31 $1,031 Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla) R Energy and Commerce $1,000 $0 $0 $1,000 Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) R Energy and Commerce $1,000 $0 $0 $1,000 Kathy Castor (D-Fla) D Energy and Commerce $500 $500 $0 $1,000 Yvette D Clarke (D-NY) D Energy and Commerce $0 $1,000 $0 $1,000 David Loebsack (D-Iowa) D Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000 Morgan Griffith (R-Va) R Energy and Commerce $750 $0 $31 $781 Richard Hudson (R-NC) R Energy and Commerce $250 $500 $0 $750 Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) R Energy and Commerce $750 $0 $0 $750 Buddy Carter (R-Ga) R Energy and Commerce $500 $0 $31 $531 Susan Brooks (R-Ind) R Energy and Commerce $500 $0 $0 $500 G K Butterfield (D-NC) D Energy and Commerce $0 $500 $0 $500 Kevin Cramer (R-ND) R Energy and Commerce $500 $0 $0 $500 Mike Doyle (D-Pa) D Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $500 $500 Brett Guthrie (R-Ky) R Energy and Commerce $500 $0 $0 $500 Peter Welch (D-Vt) D Energy and Commerce $500 $0 $0 $500 Anna Eshoo (D-Calif) D Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0 Bill Flores (R-Texas) R Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0 Gregg Harper (R-Miss) R Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0 Bobby L Rush (D-Ill) D Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0 Paul Tonko (D-NY) D Energy and Commerce $0 $0 $0 $0

Data includes contributions from lobbyists who represented Facebook in 2017 to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee including their leadership PACs.

Facebook Lobbyist Contributions to Senate Committee Members

Member Committee Party 2014 Cycle 2016 Cycle 2018 Cycle 2013-2018 Roy Blunt (R-Mo) Commerce R $7,500 $12,550 $1,000 $21,050 Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) Judiciary R $9,500 $9,000 $2,500 $21,000 Orrin G Hatch (R-Utah) Judiciary R $2,000 $8,000 $10,900 $20,900 Cory Gardner (R-Colo) Commerce R $7,600 $3,000 $8,400 $19,000 Dean Heller (R-Nev) Commerce R $2,500 $2,000 $13,400 $17,900 Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis) Commerce D $2,615 $3,700 $10,700 $17,015 Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev) Commerce D $0 $15,300 $0 $15,300 Gary Peters (D-Mich) Commerce D $10,750 $500 $3,000 $14,250 Tom Udall (D-NM) Commerce D $10,800 $1,000 $1,000 $12,800 Maggie Hassan (D-NH) Commerce D $0 $12,150 $500 $12,650 John Thune (R-SD) Commerce R $6,500 $4,650 $1,000 $12,150 John Cornyn (R-Texas) Judiciary R $5,700 $6,000 $0 $11,700 Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) Judiciary D $3,800 $6,550 $750 $11,100 Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) Commerce D $4,500 $5,100 $1,500 $11,100 Jeff Flake (R-Ariz) Judiciary R $0 $5,000 $5,900 $10,900 Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) Judiciary/Commerce D $0 $2,500 $8,000 $10,500 Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) Judiciary/Commerce D $0 $9,500 $0 $9,500 Chris Coons (D-Del) Judiciary D $4,500 $3,500 $0 $8,000 Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Judiciary R $4,500 $0 $3,200 $7,700 Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) Commerce D $1,000 $1,500 $5,000 $7,500 Ed Markey (D-Mass) Commerce D $7,500 $0 $0 $7,500 Mike Lee (R-Utah) Judiciary/Commerce R $1,000 $6,400 $0 $7,400 Cory Booker (D-NJ) Judiciary D $4,100 $1,000 $2,250 $7,350 Mazie K Hirono (D-Hawaii) Judiciary D $3,000 $1,500 $2,000 $6,500 Todd Young (R-Ind) Commerce R $500 $5,750 $0 $6,250 Ben Sasse (R-Neb) Judiciary R $1,000 $3,500 $1,500 $6,000 Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) Commerce D $0 $4,700 $0 $4,700 Ron Johnson (R-Wis) Commerce R $500 $4,000 $0 $4,500 Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Judiciary/Commerce R $1,250 $2,700 $0 $3,950 Dick Durbin (D-Ill) Judiciary D $0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 Deb Fischer (R-Neb) Commerce R $1,000 $0 $250 $1,250 Shelley Moore Capito (R-WVa) Commerce R $1,000 $0 $0 $1,000 Thom Tillis (R-NC) Judiciary R $0 $1,000 $0 $1,000 Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Judiciary D $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000 Roger Wicker (R-Miss) Commerce R $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000 Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) Commerce R $250 $0 $0 $250 James M Inhofe (R-Okla) Commerce R $0 $0 $0 $0 John Kennedy (R-La) Judiciary R $0 $0 $0 $0 Jerry Moran (R-Kan) Commerce R $0 $0 $0 $0

Data includes contributions from lobbyists who represented Facebook in 2017 to members of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees including their leadership PACs.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]





Support Accountability Journalism At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust.Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you. Support OpenSecrets ➜