Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., pledged to give up corporate campaign donations. But don’t worry, the progressive super star will still accept your lobby group’s PAC donations under certain conditions.

I heard from constituents today asking about corporate PAC contributions. I'm joining several of my colleagues & no longer accepting these contributions. Our campaign finance system is broken. I thank @StopBigMoney for their work—it’s time to pass campaign finance reform. — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 14, 2018



Booker quit corporate cash in February but then accepted $500 from the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC in April, according to FEC disclosures. He took another $500 from the same group in May. Once hooked, Booker learned, it’s hard to quit.

Some will defend Booker by dismissing the little relapse as no big deal. They will argue that it’s no relapse at all because he didn’t take corporate cash because the money in question comes from “a membership organization.”

“These distinctions are important, because Senator Booker no longer accepts contributions from corporate PACs, including trade association PACs, LLCs, and LLP PACs associated with law firms and other for profit entities,” Booker spokesman Jeff Giertz told the Washington Examiner.

And that is true, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC isn’t a corporation. They are, in fact, a membership organization, according to their FEC filings. Somehow this paper distinction makes Booker feel better about taking money from lobbyists.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors is not a membership group like the Shriners or the Lions Club. They are membership group that spends millions of dollars lobbying Congress to advance the interests of an industry. A quick peak at their lobbying report shows how they push for legislation to favor their industry.

Membership group or not in the eyes of the FEC, they function as an industry lobby in the halls of Congress. Booker shouldn’t feel too bad for taking their money, though. He isn’t the only one who makes special exceptions for campaign contributions

The same day Booker made his February pledge, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., announced she would quit corporate PAC money. The goal, her spokesman told Roll Call, was “to get corporate money out of politics” and that included donations from PACs connected to trade associations and law firms.



I will no longer accept donations from corporate PACs, and I wanted to share why I’ve made that decision. I hope you’ll join me in doing everything we can to fight to reform our broken campaign finance system. pic.twitter.com/v2oWvEiUCe — Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) February 13, 2018



Gillibrand hasn’t been able to get completely clean though. She still takes PAC money from big unions.

Right now, the two 2020 hopefuls can probably get away with those little exceptions to their rules. Whoever really gets clean will have an advantage when presidential primary season starts.

Note: This piece has been corrected to reflect that the National Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC is, indeed, a membership organization, it has been updated with a statement from Booker’s team, and it has been changed to demonstrate just exactly how Booker works around his own rules to take industry money.