1461 days ago, Trump became the 45th President of the United States. Today, it finally ends. And I want to take a beat and hear from you. What are your hopes for the new administration? What are your fears? What topics would you like to see this newsletter cover?

You can leave your thoughts in the discussion thread linked below, starting now. I’ll be dropping by to participate in the discussion and answer your questions at 9:30 AM Eastern, for about an hour.

But I did want to give you one update from Popular Information's recent reporting on corporate donations to the 147 Republicans who objected to the Electoral College. Yesterday, we learned that Oracle would suspend donations to this group. 

Judd Legum @JuddLegum

UPDATE: @Oracle suspends donations to members of Congress that voted against certifying Biden’s win. https://t.co/Ky93HLmTze

Oracle @Oracle

Oracle Political Action Committee (OPAC) has decided to pause contributions to anyone who voted against certifying the November 2020 election results. https://t.co/q0fwaHVFuE

January 19th 2021

1,363 Retweets6,185 Likes

This is a stance now taken by at least 38 companies — including Amazon, Disney, Walmart, and Pfizer. Why is Oracle so significant? Because Oracle's chairman, Larry Ellison, is one of Trump's biggest supporters and the company has been closely aligned with Trump. 

Last February, Ellison hosted a fundraiser for Trump at his California estate where tickets went for up to $250,000. Oracle backed "the administration’s trade plans and its positions on major tech policy issues." Oracle's CEO, Safra Catz, served on Trump's transition team and personally donated more than $130,000 to reelect Trump.

And now Oracle has suspended its donations to members of Congress who validated Trump's lies about election fraud. A week earlier, 500 Oracle employees signed a letter to the board demanding action.

Change is possible. 

Support Accountability Journalism