Political donations under scrutiny after U.S. Capitol siege

Major leaders in the auto industry have joined a growing list of corporations and business groups that are reconsidering political contributions to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle after the deadly invasion of the U.S. Capitol.

The violent assault by a mob that stormed the building Jan. 6 temporarily delayed the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory and left at least five people dead. President Donald Trump has been accused of inciting the attack by repeating his claim that the election was "rigged" during a rally that day near the White House.

No evidence of widespread voter fraud has been found that would change the outcome of the election, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Last week, Trump became the first president in American history to be impeached twice, after the House charged him with incitement of insurrection for his actions during the rally.

Ten Republicans joined all Democrats in a 232-197 vote in favor of impeachment. It was not clear late last week when the Senate will conduct a trial of Trump, whose term ends at noon Wednesday, Jan. 20.

In light of the Capitol siege, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors said they were pressing pause on new political donations, as Republican lawmakers who objected to Biden's certification faced a growing chorus of corporate criticism.

"Events over the past year have underscored the need for a broader, ongoing discussion about other relevant considerations when it comes to our employee PAC," Ford said in a statement. "In order to give these important discussions the time and reflection they deserve, the Ford PAC will be suspending new contributions for now."

Meanwhile, GM said it has not yet determined its political action committee's plans for 2021.

"In 2020, we enhanced the character and public integrity criteria for making contributions and that will help guide our decisions moving forward," spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said in an email to Automotive News.

Neither Ford nor GM specified how long those pauses would last.

Toyota Motor Corp., the National Automobile Dealers Association and the American Bankers Association said they were reviewing their political contributions.

"Given the recent events and the horrific attack on the U.S. Capitol, we are assessing our future PAC criteria," Toyota said in a statement.

NADA and the bank group were among the top 10 PAC donors to the 147 Republican lawmakers who objected to certifying the presidential election, according to a list compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.

NADA had donated hundreds of thousands to some of those Republicans, according to the center's data, making it No. 6 among PAC donors.

The events that unfolded at the Capitol were "shocking, tragic and condemnable," NADA spokesman Jared Allen said in a statement. "NADA PAC is a grassroots PAC that donates to hundreds of members of Congress each cycle and that has a long history of bipartisan engagement. NADA PAC is currently assessing our political contributions going forward."

The bankers association, which includes auto lenders among its members, was the No. 2 PAC donor to Electoral College objectors. The group said it also would assess its political activities.

Jenna Bednar, a professor of public policy and political science at the University of Michigan, said that when companies make campaign donations to specific candidates, they're saying, "we are stakeholders in this process as well."

The actions by major corporations and trade associations to halt or review their contributions is "virtue signaling," she said, and puts their political activities under scrutiny.

"They're signaling that the rule of law matters," Bednar said. "But there may also be a downside if they're shown to be supportive of some of these members of Congress who later end up being implicated in the events of last week, so disassociating themselves at this point makes good business sense."

Jackie Charniga contributed to this report.